The Summer of McLean Park
by Sinematic
Summary: Meeting on opposite sides of the debate, Gwen and Duncan fight over the inevitable fate of McLean Park. As they compete, Duncan and Gwen begin to realize they don't have to be enemies. Nizzy, HeatherxAlejandro, KatiexDJ, GxD :3
1. Chapter 1

"**If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything," – Mark Twain**

_Dear Diary,_

_Today was day one of 'Project Save McLean Park', but we didn't really get further than introductions and far-fetched ideas. I really believe we can save the park, I mean we have all summer. I mentioned starting off with the cliché lemonade stand, but Bridgette turned it down. We need 3000 dollars for the city to consider keeping the park, and nothing will stand in my way._

Gwen closed her diary with a satisfied sigh. Summer had just started, and the warm night breeze invited her into the promising season. She had just gotten back from their local community center's meeting and excited feelings of felicity had been welled up in her throat ever since. Saving McLean Park was important to her. Gwen was ready to raise that money, and meeting her team had only increased her confidence!

Sort of.

...

When Gwen had arrived at the McLean Park, the rest of the supporters had already adjourned at a low, weathered table under a thick beech tree. Her friend, Bridgette, was orchestrating with a clipboard in hand. Bridgette's boyfriend, Geoff, flashed her a supporting smile. A girl from their school, Izzy, and her boyfriend, Noah, sat cross-legged and facing each other, smiling and twisting their fingers together. DJ was content with just sitting in the grass, admiring the tiny flowers. This was one of the few parts of the park that hadn't been overrun with debris and graffiti.

Gwen gave a little wave at the group, which they casually returned. Grinning, she jogged the rest of the way to the table, only to waltz right in the middle of this conversation:

"I'm just saying, Noah! If you killed me, you would totally bury my body in this park!" Izzy chattered.

He rolled his eyes, "Izzy, I would never kill you."

Geoff interjected, "Because you_ looove_ her, dude! Just admit it!"

Noah glowered at the guy sporting the cowboy hat, "Look who's talking! You and Bridgette were sucking face for like, fifteen minutes before Gothika showed up."

Geoff pondered this, "Just because you make out with a chick, it doesn't mean you love her."

That, Bridgette overheard. "Well, Geoff, I personally don't have any problem with killing you!"

As the small group discussed the future of McLean Park, another similar discussion was taking place not too far from there.

...

Courtney examined the bottom of her shoe; tender grass stuck to the bottom while watery mud seeped through the soles. "_Ugh_! Duncan! Why did we go this way? Now my shoes are covered in sludge!"

Duncan ran his hand over his mohawk, only to have it spring up a second later. Exhausting a frustrated huff, he snapped, "You said you wanted to talk, so talk."

Courtney sighed, and carefully examined the base of a nearby tree. Once she deemed it clean, she hesitantly leaned against it. Pressing her hands together, she searched for the right words. "Duncan... I know our breakup has been hard on you..."

He snorted, "Please, Princess. I'm overjoyed."

"Just hear me out," Courtney pleaded softly. Duncan wasn't facing her, but she saw his head lower. Where he was standing, she noticed that the end of one of his ear piercings reflected off the sun, and that she could trace the outlines of his back easily. "I know I broke up with you..."

He didn't move, but he replied hotly, "Which you still have yet to explain, Princess."

Feeling the rough texture of the bark beneath her fingers, she continued slowly, "I wanted to ask you a favor."

Duncan laughed. Wiping a sarcastic tear from his eye, he met Courtney's glare with one of his own, "And why would I help you?"

Her fists balled up, but looking away and regaining her composure, Courtney got to her point, "I want you to help me get rid of... a park, in order for this new restaurant, Chef's Hatchet, to open."

This had Duncan's attention. He scratched at his chin thoughtfully, "Chef's Hatchet, eh? And what makes this place so special?"

Ignoring his question, she pressed on, "It was going to happen, a done deal! Before. But now there's this group that's protesting it! And if they raise 3000 dollars by the end of summer, they get to keep their precious, McLean Park!"

Duncan's lower lip trembled; his voice rang out coldly, "_McLean Park_, you

say?" He walked a little ways in no particular direction. He looked down, then away, then straight at Courtney with his penetrating teal eyes, "Yeah. I'll help you."

Courtney flinched at the dark tone he had taken. Yes, _she_ knew why he hated McLean Park, but he didn't know that. _There was so much he didn't know_... But she couldn't tell him now. Forcing a smile, Courtney extended a hand, "That's great!"

He hesitated for a moment, but figured, _What the hell?_ Their hands locked together. Duncan and Courtney were going to destroy McLean Park.

...

"Lemonade! Get your lemonade here!" Gwen shouted to the apparently lemonade-less world. Although Bridgette had vetoed the lemonade stand idea, no one else had thought of any better ideas and an entire week passed. Finally, Bridgette consented, and it became the official beginning to the McLean Park Preservation Society's fundraising.

Izzy was busy smashing lemons, and DJ was carefully measuring out sugar for the pitchers. Bridgette wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand before finally getting up and holding Gwen's waving arms down to her sides. "Gwen! I don't think anyone wants to buy lemonade from us. We've been out here for _four_ hours, and no one has even glanced at us!"

"That's quitter talk!" Gwen protested feebly, for her voice had grown hoarse after the third hour. Bridgette let go of Gwen's arms, and the two plopped down on the ground, unsettling dust from the dirty street road.

Noah looked up from his book, "So are we done?"

A car honked as it whizzed by, startling DJ who then displaced an entire pitcher of their refreshing drink all over the sidewalk.

"Yep, we're done." Gwen sighed.

As the gang was about to pack up, a strange pair approached them. The girl was tall and thin, wearing a soft grey sweater and wedge heels. The sun made her freckles stand out, and her crystallizing brown eyes surveyed their pitiful stand, making her look like a fierce hawk that was picking out its lunch. The guy was her companion; he was tall and angular, and his entire look screamed 'punk'. Besides his green mohawk and facial piercings, this stranger sported a creepy skull shirt and dog collar.

"What is this? Who authorized this?" the girl's shrill voice pierced through Gwen's eardrums.

Gwen stood up defensively, "This is a lemonade stand, if you couldn't tell! And we have permission from the town board."

The girl sneered, "I doubt that. You're that group that's trying to save McLean Park, aren't you?"

Bridgette stepped in, "Yeah, and who are you?"

"I'm Courtney, a CIT, and this is Duncan. We're the leaders of your opposition. You guys better back down now, because I don't plan on loosing."

Noah raised an eyebrow, "Our 'opposition'? You mean you're trying to get rid of McLean Park?"

The guy, now known as Duncan, finally spoke up, "That's right, dork. And while you losers are sitting around playing with lemonade, we're actually accomplishing something." He handed Bridgette a flyer.

Her eyes squinted, then widened in horror, "A rock concert? You're hosting a rock concert?"

Duncan's contempt was obvious, "That's right, honey. And it _miiight_ just draw in a little more dough than this.. thing you have going on here. Better luck next time." The pair sauntered off in the direction they had been heading, but Gwen wasn't about to let them walk away that easy!

"Very intimidating! A spoiled snob and her loyal watchdog? I'm fucking shaking in my boots." Gwen shouted after them.

Duncan turned around and laughed, "Shaking? There could be an earthquake and you wouldn't move an inch in those clompers! What are they? Size twelve?"

"The better to kick you with, my dear!" Gwen's feisty eyes narrowed.

Duncan just smirked, "See you around, Sunshine!" Courtney pulled him along, irritated, until they were out of sight.

Indignant, Gwen turned to her equally pissed friends, "We're crashing that concert."

...

**Well, what did you think? Thanks for reading, please review, and I hope you have a good day :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please." -Mark Twain**

Gwen groped around under her desk for her misplaced pen. Successful, her fingers curled around the smooth plastic and she unfastened her diary vehemently, pushing her crusty, muddy bangs from her face.

_Dear Diary,_

_I hate Duncan. I hate how he thinks he's so rebellious and cool and interesting, and how he probably thinks he's so fucking clever when he's not! And his stupid, glowing, endearing, fucking perfect eyes! And his piercings. And how he smells good. ... I hate him!_

...

Earlier that day

...

"Great! So the concert's on for tonight?" Heather questioned nonchalantly, repositioning herself on the counter. Six teens were lounging around Courtney's contemporary kitchen discussing their fundraising plans. If they could raise 3000 dollars by the end of summer, McLean Park would be cleared out and the town would begin the construction of Chef's Hatchet.

Alejandro draped his arm around Heather, and turned to a thin, freckly dude who was consuming a bag of chips, "Amigo, you all set with the sound system?"

The guy dropped his snack and gave Alejandro a huffy glare, "_Gosh!_ Have some faith, Alejandro!"

"We have faith in you, Harold!" Katie and Sadie shrieked gleefully.

"Ladies." Harold gave them a playful wink.

Duncan shuddered and turned to leave, when he felt someone's soft hand clamp around his wrist. Courtney's brow furrowed, "Where do you think you're going?"

He snapped his arm from her grasp, but he said casually, "That's none of your concern, sweetheart!" Duncan cut across the stainless steel kitchen, ignoring the other's confused stares.

As he opened the sliding door, Courtney called after him, "Just don't be late tonight!" He rolled his eyes, but she couldn't see. All she saw was him walking away.

Just like that night. _That night_.

Courtney took a deep breath and reminded herself that the guilt that had enveloped her would soon be buried forever. With a smile, she joined her group to talk about random details of the night.

...

Despite the hot weather, Duncan felt goosebumps shivering on his neck. He hated Courtney for leaving him like she did. It was a muggy night, he recalled... He shook his head of the memory, because a new distraction had presented itself. Duncan found himself by the outskirts of the park, and as he carefully stepped over a large, muddy puddle, he looked up and saw the snarky goth girl he'd met a week earlier. She was holed up in a tree with a thin red book, and had taken notice of him.

"Hey!" she shouted down to him; less of a greeting, more of a reprimand. Her blue and black hair was swept to the side, exposing mascara tear streaks running down her sickly white skin. She must have realized that's what she looked like, because she quickly rubbed her palm over her cheeks.

"You been crying?" he asked, not sure if he really cared.

She continued to glare, "What are you doing here?"

Duncan's eyes narrowed, trying to think of a reason. After a few seconds of chewing his own tongue he shrugged his shoulders, "I don't need a reason. So you gonna come see our concert tonight?"

"Like hell I'd go to your stupid concert." Gwen muttered maliciously, turning back to her book. They were planning on crashing it, but he didn't need to know that.

Duncan smirked, "Don't be like that, Sweetheart!"

Gwen's eyes were glued to her book, and it appeared as if she was ignoring him. Duncan took a few steps forward, laughing inwardly. It was intriguing to him that this girl he'd only just met was so extremely hostile. He'd never thought he was that unappealing, but apparently he'd made a bad first impression. It's not like he had some weird desire for the acceptance of this girl; she wanted to protect the one place, besides juvi, that he desperately loathed! But he needed a diversion from Courtney.

"So, what's your name?"

Gwen's sour expression was the only indication that she'd hear him.

Duncan looped his thumbs through his belt loops, thankful he was facing opposite the powerful sun. He tried again, finding her stubbornness amusing, "What're you reading?"

Gwen sighed, "Look... Duncan? Right? Okay, Duncan, not to be rude, but I don't like you. So, go away."

Duncan's mouth twitched, "Well maybe I don't like you!"

Gwen abruptly threw up her arms, incredulous and frustrated, "Then why the fuck are you still here?" Upon doing this, Gwen lost her balance and fell out of the swaying tree, squashing Duncan.

Duncan emitted a groan, and then snapped accusingly, "You were aiming for me!" He rubbed his head where her heel had collided.

She shoved him away, laughing, "Thanks for breaking my fall!" She'd expected him to leave, but he was already on his feet and offering her a hand. Warily, she took it. His hands were calloused and blistered; Gwen wondered what he'd been doing that had made them like that.

With gentle concern, Duncan lifted her to her feet. At the moment, she noticed his eyes, his mouth, his piercings, his hair. Everything about him seemed to disassemble for her to inspect. His mouth curled into a little grin, exposing oddly straight and white teeth. All the edgy insults she'd hurled at him before seemed more annoying than witty. She'd begun to feel self conscious, because he didn't look away. He only kept smiling.

Once she was steady, Duncan let go of her hand. And pushed her into the mud puddle.

Once she got over the gasping shock, and the dirty, smothering water had covered every inch of her, Gwen widened her eyes at the sight of Duncan, running away and laughing hysterically.

"I hope I see you to-night, Pasty!"

...

After she showered, Gwen met up with Bridgette, Geoff, and Izzy outside the concert. DJ and Noah had stayed back, because they were working on the group's secret retaliation. Courtney had gotten a permit to rent a grade school's soccer field, four blocks away from McLean Park. The field was still set up from a Polka Fest a few weeks earlier, so the benches and stage that had been there were extremely convenient.

"Okay guys, it's time to see what these jerks are really capable of!" Gwen hissed. The four were hidden in the shadows of the fence separating them from the already bright and loud field.

Geoff wailed, startling the others, "Oh man!"

Bridgette punched his arm, "Geoff! Shush!"

"Look!" he gestured towards the fence, "They actually had posters made! And with five dollars a ticket, oh man, it's gotta be packed in there!"

Bridgette took his hand in hers, "Gwen, what's our plan here?"

Gwen straightened up, "We're mostly doing surveillance tonight. Really seeing what we're up against, ya know?"

They nodded, but Izzy's eyes narrowed, "So I brought all these explosives for nothing?" she flashed open her bag and a few firework-dynamite looking objects fell out. Gwen, Geoff, and Bridgette jumped back a foot, only slightly screaming.

Bridgette crept forward, inspecting the bag's contents more closely, "Izzy... Why... Why do you have those?"

Izzy twittered, "I don't play around when it comes to sabotage, Bridge!"

"Dudes," Geoff observed, rapping his knuckles on the chain link fence, "How are we supposed to get in?"

Izzy's eager hands went to her bag, but three disapproving pairs of eyes made her stop. She lowered her head sheepishly, "Don't tell Noah."

...

"_And now, the moment you've all been waiting for..._" a droning, raspy voice echoed out through the field. At least a hundred people had shown up and they all crowded around the stage in anticipation. The four had scaled the fence, but they were undetectable to anyone who wasn't looking for them. _"...the main event..._" the crowd cheered deafeningly, _"...THE DRAMA BROTHERS!"_

A fog machine swirled around the stage as five people emerged: a short, squirrely guy on keyboard, a dreamy hunk dude on drums, a lanky red-head held a microphone, a tall, relaxed cutie gripped an acoustic, and last but not least...

"Duncan?!"

Gwen was horrified, to say the least. Bridgette looked concerned, because she knew the mud puddle story already. Izzy pointed to her backpack mischievously, but Gwen couldn't tear her eyes away. Fury began to engulf Gwen, and it didn't help when she saw Geoff fist pumping.

"What? It's catchy, dude! Hate the cause, brah, not the tunes!"

The thing that irked Gwen the most was that Duncan wasn't terrible, and she really wanted to dance along too.

...

After the devastatingly successful concert, the four fundraising friends sulked outside the fence.

"I hate to state the obvious... But they rocked." Bridgette mentioned reluctantly.

"Yeah, we did!"

They spun around to come face to face with Duncan, flanked by two identical girls in hot pink short shorts and pigtails. Gwen almost hurled herself at him, but Geoff placed his reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"What do you want, dude?" he asked, almost ominous, until he added, "You guys were killer by the way!"

"Thanks, man," Duncan grinned.

Bridgette and Izzy punched Geoff in opposite arms as Gwen slowly approached Duncan.

"So you showed up after all, huh Pasty? I didn't know you cared." Gwen growled, and he continued gleefully, "Did you guys pay the five bucks, or just hop this fence here?" Duncan's pompous attitude made Gwen reflexively tense her fist.

Bridgette tried to diffuse the situation, "Yeah, okay Duncan, we get it. You're a jackass. But that doesn't-"

Sadie piped up, "You're ones who snuck into our concert!"

"Was I talking to you?" Bridgette crossed her arms.

Katie stepped forward, "Oh, no! You can't talk to Sadie like that!"

Geoff interjected, "Dudes, chill!"

"_Bring it, bitch!"_ Bridgette raised her fists.

But before anyone could pummel anyone else, a wild scream came from above. It was Izzy, and she tackled the offending group of three. She grinned, waiting for approval, but then she realized she was on top of Duncan. She whipped her head around to look at her friends, "Don't tell Noah."

Katie and Sadie ran away screaming, and Duncan picked himself up. "Seriously? Again?"

He glared at the group of four, "Listen up, dorks. We are going to clear out that shithole you call a park by the end of summer, if it's the last thing I do. And come on, it's not like your dumb lemonade stand could even compete with this! We made five hundred bucks tonight easy!"

Bridgette's phone beeped, and she scrambled to look at it. "_It's from DJ!"_ she whispered to Geoff.

Duncan continued, "So you weirdos can keep jumping on me from trees, hey, I don't mind, really, but you're going to lose! So give up now!" At this point, he was completely in Gwen's personal bubble; his hot breath blasted against her face. But she didn't notice because her entire body was pumping with a fiery anger.

Bridgette tapped Gwen's arm and showed her the text.

As Duncan turned to walk away, Gwen shouted out after him, "Well it looks like we've upgraded from a lemonade stand!"

He snatched the phone from her hand and read, "Sign up for The Talent Show of a Lifetime? Tickets are $7 and will be held in McLean Park, Saturday night?" She took it back from him smugly but he was still struggling, "So what?"

So Gwen's smug grin grew fierce, "It means we're hosting a Talent Show, and it looks like thirty people have already signed up."

...

**Thanks for reading, please review, and I really hope you have an amazing winter break :3**

**PS The reviews from the last chapter were incredible. I love you all. You're amazing.**


	3. Chapter 3

**"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." -Mark Twain**

_"What the fuck?!"_ His friend attempted to shove Duncan, but she was immediately restrained and pushed against the flashing car, next to the others.

Duncan was too confused to retaliate. "I... Fuck. I don't..." He barely struggled against the man who had his hand tightly gripped on Duncan's shoulder.

"You're in a lot of trouble, boy," the man holding Duncan stated the obvious.

Duncan's face quickly filled with horror, but like a camera flash, his features were bent in rage. He spun around, now fully thrashing against the man who had constrained him, and faced his friend: his thick frame was pulled in from having his hands behind his back, and his red hair hung limply in his sweaty face like string. The shameful guilt in his expression was all the proof Duncan needed.

"Did you do this?!"

His friend mumbled to the officer standing next to him, "I didn't have anything to do with this, man."

Duncan's outraged accusations were muffled as he was pushed into the plastic backseat of the squad car. "You set me up!" he screamed, his own voice reverberated around the small space in the car, letting him hear his own strained, brinking-on-hysterical voice. He watched as his friend's parents came by, one by one, getting their respected child and throwing disappointed, furious looks of betrayal into the squad car.

Eventually, stringy hair's mom came by, and her look of disapproval was the worst of all. She looked at him as if he were a stranger. The way she held her son protectively, as if Duncan were just a criminal trying to corrupt her offspring.

The officers climbed into the cab, and they drove off.

He spent the next month in juvi, and his friends never spoke to him again.

...

The McLean campaigners were at Gwen's house, getting ready for the talent show. Although it was still a few days away, they were overwhelmed with all the work thatxc had to be done. To promote the park, they'd decided to hold the show in the area they'd first met because it was by far the nicest section of the garbage-infested park. Bridgette's uncle knew a guy who set up stages for small concerts and was willing to loan his services, DJ's mom borrowed folding chairs from their church, and Geoff's brother bought them a few kegs: some soda, and some beer. Noah took care of the sound systems, Izzy began working on the pyrotechnics, because that was her area of expertise, and Gwen managed all the performances. A total of twenty-six acts, with over fifty people, had signed up for the little group's fundraiser.

Gwen's eyes panned over the sheet. Although some of the others had also signed up, Gwen couldn't help but feel a little silly for signing up herself. She wouldn't exactly be juggling flaming torches in a speedo, like Geoff planned on doing, but at least she wouldn't be doing something as boring as a 'how to brush your hair' tutorial, like a girl named Lindsay had decided.

...

Noah sat at Gwen's coffee table and was seemingly researching used speakers on eBay. _Seemingly_, being the key word.

"Sup dude?" Noah's hands flew up to his mouth, stifling a startled scream. Geoff's sly voice made Noah cringe, "Whatcha doin' little dude?"

Noah scowled, "You scared me."

"You can go change your pants in a minute, dude," Geoff chuckled at Noah, who was becoming increasingly annoyed.

"What do you want?"

Geoff's eyes squinted and his grin was wide with giddiness, "You love her, man!"

Noah sputtered, "What... Why do you say that?"

"Your search bar says, 'how to tell her you love her', dude. And you got a...a ring box?!"

Blushing deeply, Noah stuffed the box in his pocket, "It's nothing."

Geoff sat down, leaning forward eagerly, "Dude what is it?"

"It's just a ring... Izzy saw when we went to the mall. It's nothing!" By this point, Geoff had held out his hand so assertively Noah felt compelled to give him the box. Geoff flipped it open; a little orange skull peeked back at him with plastic green gem eyes.

Geoff didn't know what to say for a moment, until he decisively pinched the box closed, "No dude. This won't work."

Noah looked worried, "It won't?"

"I've been dating Bridgette for a while now, right?"

Nod.

"And during that time, I never gave her a creepy skull ... anything."

"Yeah but-"

"I bought her underwear."

Noah turned red.

Geoff continued, "Bras, panties, anything lacy that she'd look hot in."

Noah squirmed, "Geoff I should really be-"

Geoff patted Noah's shoulder reassuringly, "You gotta take this back, and hit up a lingerie place."

Noah stopped resisting, and let this new information sink in. After a moment, he flashed Geoff a pitiful look, "I don't exactly know much about that."

"My man, Noah, let's go to the mall!"

...

Duncan woke up in a sweat. No matter how much time had passed, he seemed to have the same dream every night, usually ending in the same result. He checked his clock. Four-thirty. Groaning, he pulled his pillow over his face. At times like this, he missed Courtney. He used to wake her up in the middle of the night just to see how she was sleeping. She sounded mad, but he could always hear her initial smile when she'd sleepily say 'hello'.

Although he seemed to always have the same flashback dream of blinking lights and angry stares, but that was not the reason he was awake. A new dream had emerged, and it was almost less preferable than remembering his arrest. Tonight all he saw was the pale little goth girl, but it wasn't her determined glare that Duncan recalled. It was the instant shock he'd felt when he picked her up, like she was charged up with lightning, and how he could barely tear his eyes away from her own smudged, watery ones.

He mentally slapped himself. She'd been crying, and he pushed her into a puddle. He must've looked like such an ass. He tried to justify his actions, but nothing he came up with was good enough. He'd pushed her because he was afraid that he would do something stupider, like kiss her. Her, this nameless chick he'd felt such an instant, playful relationship with. Her, who stood up to him. Her, who was trying to save McLean Park.

Duncan realized, on that dark, Saturday morning, that he didn't hate her at all; however, the realization dawned on him that she had every reason to hate his guts. He'd have to change her mind. He'd have to learn her name! In the meantime, he was half tempted to refer to her as 'Lightning' because of the thrilling shock she'd given him, but he settled on 'Sunshine'.

...

At a much later hour, Duncan trudged down the stairs to his kitchen where his mother was usually making breakfast. He noticed the absence of good food smells in the air, which lead him to one conclusion: his dad was home. Ever since Duncan's homecoming from juvi, his father had been particularly bitter. It came to the point where his mother couldn't stand to be in the same room with him, so when his dad was actually home from work, his mother was nowhere in sight.

They exchanged wordless greeting nods as Duncan poured himself a bowl of cereal, but instead of sitting down with his dad, he slipped on his shoes and quickly exited the house. Duncan, bowl in hand, wandered arbitrarily through the streets he knew so well, until he realized he was at Courtney's front door, ringing the bell.

"Shit," he grumbled, as he heard swift footsteps approaching the door.

She looked surprised to see him, but before she could ask any questions he launched into his plan, "Courtney, I think we should crash the McLosers' talent show tonight."

She rolled her eyes and stepped aside so he could come in, "I'm way ahead of you!"

...

Saturday night had arrived, and fifty excited people waited in the wings wearing assorted costumes and holding random instruments or pogo sticks. The park looked amazing. Flashing lights had attracted the neighbor kids and the promise of beer lured in the adults. DJ went around to the different groups, checking off names and offering encouragement to all. The sun had just set, leaving the muggy day to wallow in darkness, but bug repellant candles kept the hungry mosquitoes away.

Bridgette ignored the humid air and appeared on stage with a spring in her step. She happily addressed the heat-burdened crowd, "Hello McLean Park Lovers! Thank you for coming to our talent show tonight!" A polite applause and a few cheers rolled off the crowd. She continued, "To start off our night, we have Tyler showing off his blindfolded skateboarding skills! Let's give him a hand!"

A tall guy with soft features in a red warm-up suit sauntered onto the stage. Sadly, he'd already put on his blindfold, which caused him to walk directly off the edge, earning a few concerned mumbles from the crowd.

Gwen paced around nervously behind the stage. Her paper crinkled under her thumb's uneasy grasp and her eyes widened when the next act was announced.

"Up next is Ezekiel, playing his accordion!"

A short boy with mossy teeth and a ski cap timidly walked on stage, holding his instrument tightly in his calloused hands.

Gwen began hyperventilating, as she knew she was next on the list. DJ noticed her frantic behavior, and jumped to help her. "Gwen!" he crooned, enveloping her in a bear hug, "You'll be great. Just don't be nervous!"

Gwen gave him a hard look, "Wow. Thanks for that advice! I was totally planning on being nervous, but now, I won't."

DJ chortled softly and pushed her towards the stairs, because Ezekiel had finished and Bridgette had regained center stage. "Thank you, Zeke! That was awesome! Okay, now I'd like to introduce to you... my good friend, Gwen!" A cheer erupted through the crowd. Gwen gulped, and began her climb to the stage.

...

Duncan and Courtney had snuck into the talent show with ease. Courtney had a large sun hat that disguised most of her face, and Duncan sported a black fedora and a matching trench coat, just as a precaution. The show so far had been fairly good, making Courtney anxiously wring her hands together in the midst of scribbling notes on a pad of paper.

"...now I'd like to introduce to you, my good friend, Gwen!"

Duncan's eyes bulged from their sockets when Sunshine appeared on the well-lit platform. She looked around nervously, and took a seat on a small stool.

"Gwen," he whispered to himself, delighted to finally have a name.

"What'd you say?" Courtney peered at him.

"Er... Nothing."

Gwen/Sunshine let out an uneasy chuckle as she glanced through the crowd. He saw her take a shaky breath, and then she began.

"Pink and red chasm of idiocy

Speak by puppet strings

And wash over the smooth stones

Of the gloomy shoreline

Worn down, naive.

Only the broken sand

Can say

Blue's the color

That knows

The way."

_Wow._

Duncan heard hollow applause as her words rung softly in his ears. He exchanged a look with Courtney, knowing that that act alone would make everyone stay longer, buy more drinks, and crawl over to the park supporters' side. Courtney scowled sullenly, while he fought his state of awe.

He watched as she grinned shyly, thanked everyone profusely, and scurried off stage.

...

While some kid was playing a rendition of Beethoven's fifth, Noah and Izzy snuck out to Noah's car. In between kisses, Noah attempted to start a conversation that would lead to the reveal of Geoff's approved present, and hopefully him admitting his love for Izzy.

"So... You're probably wondering why we're here?"

Izzy pondered this, "To make out? ...No? Oooh are we going street racing!?"

"No, Izzy, I wanted to give you something."

Izzy's maniacal grin widened when Noah slowly pulled a bright red box, tied with a polka dot ribbon, out for her to see.

"Aww No-y Bear! If it's a street racing outfit, I know how we can use it," she hinted, shifting her gaze towards the wheel. Noah dug his nails into his palms as she tugged at the bow.

"So, Izzy, I just wanted... To say... That I-"

"What... Ah, what the hell is this? Ahhah..." Izzy's went back and forth from a nervous laughter to an angry glower.

Noah stiffly said what Geoff had instructed him, "Babe, you're like the hottest chick I know, and I wanted to, _AUGH!"_ he groaned in frustration, trying not to look at her annoyed expression, "I, Geoff told me to take the, I, he,..." Noah trailed off hopelessly.

Izzy threw the box in his lap, and wordlessly exited the car. Noah tossed the sparkly pink bra and pantie set to the passenger seat and banged his head on the steering wheel until his forehead was as much of a throbbing mess as his broken heart.

...

"So... Gwen."

After celebrating their success of the talent show, Gwen left her group to wander through the park. They'd made 785 dollars that night, and everyone was more than content. All traces of the day's humidity had morphed into a cooler, windy night. Gwen stopped at the edge of the park, where the swaying trees overlapped the closest road to her house, and stared at the sky. That's when she heard Duncan come up behind her.

"Congratulations, you snuck into our show and learned my name," she snapped, eyeing him cautiously. He casually sat down on a nearby tree stump, and looked up at the moon. She raised an eyebrow at the strange behavior, but climbed into a tree adjacent to where he rested.

"Your show was... pretty good," he finally admitted. She grinned proudly, in an in-your-face kind of way. He looked up, "I had no idea you were the gushy poem writing type."

Gwen snarled, "You're just mad because we're a real threat now!"

Duncan laid back on his arm while his eyes wandered over simple constellations, "I guess you could say that."

"Why are you being...not a total asshole right now?"

He didn't answer. Instead, Gwen watched as he kicked a metal can across the path to another pile of refuse. "Why do you want to save this crappy shit place anyway?"

She sighed, "Do you really care?"

"I'm asking, Sunshine!"

She repositioned herself on the tree branch so that she could reach her bag. She pulled out the little red book he'd seen her reading a week earlier.

"This is why I want to save this place."

He stared at it with intent curiosity. She thumbed through it slowly, tipping it just slightly so that he couldn't see what was inside. Finally he asked, "A book?"

Her hold tightened, "It's not just a book... It's a book of poems."

His expression of interested confusion didn't waver. The wind picked up, screaming. It made Gwen shudder, but she pressed on, "My dad and I wrote them together. We used to come to McLean Park whenever he had spare time, and we'd crawl around, looking at bugs and leaves, and write poems about whatever we'd find."

He smiled. _So that was why she wanted to save the park_. Something about her sad eyes made him frown, however, and she kept going.

"But then he left."

Duncan's frown tightened, watching Gwen's twisted expression as she revealed this gave him physical pain. He wanted to hold her. To tell her it was okay. To say anything! But she wasn't done.

"One day, he was just gone. He said goodbye, but I thought he was just going to the store, so I didn't even say it back. Every day after, I'd sit in one of these trees with our poem book, and wait for him to get back. So if I let them turn this place into a restaurant, strip mall whatever, it feels like I'm giving up on my dad coming back too."

Duncan's own wounds throbbed; he'd been waiting for his dad too- to go back to normal. He thought about how similar they really were, and then noticed her shuddering, heaving shoulders. Duncan got up, and wrapped his trench coat around her shaking body. She smiled a broken, vulnerable, thankful smile at him as he sat back down on his tree stump.

"That sucks, Sunshine," he stated, sounding regretting and comforting at the same time.

She laughed, "Yeah! Sorry... About dumping that on you..."

"Don't worry about it."

"...Why do you want to get rid of this place?"

Duncan was about to answer, when a shrill call brought him to his feet, "_Duncan! Where are you?!"_

"Shit. Courtney," he muttered, looking over his shoulder.

"Girlfriend?" Gwen asked. Duncan was pleased that he could hear a small strain of anxiety in her question.

"At one point... That's all over now."

"Oh, you dumped her for someone prettier, then."

His eyes narrowed a little, seeing that nothing had changed her impression of him, "Is that really how you see me, Sunshine? Ha, no, she dumped me, actually."

"How could she have let a catch like you go? A self righteous delinquent who has nothing better to do than follow strangers around in the woods?"

She was surprised when he didn't retaliate with something witty, but just gave her a half smirk and jogged away. Instant guilt shrouded over Gwen, especially when she huddled into the borrowed trench coat against the biting wind.

...

When Gwen got home, her mom and brother were already asleep so the house was eerily quiet. She dove into her room, quickly flicking on the light. Her throat felt tight, and everything seemed unfamiliar.

_Dear Diary,_

_You know how I told you that I hate Duncan? Tonight, he listened to my side of the story, you know, dad. He gave me his coat when I was cold. And most importantly, he didn't push me into another puddle. I don't know. Maybe I was wrong? Maybe he's not just a self righteous delinquent. I guess there's a lot about Duncan I don't know. Maybe I just ruined the once chance I had to become friends with him._

_Wait. I don't want to be friends with someone who wants to tear down McLean Park! What am I writing..?_

_Then again, I never heard his side._

...

**Thanks for reading, please review, and Happy New Year *:D**

**I hope this chapter filled in a few questions you might have had! Or maybe it just presented more questions for you to ask?**

**The reviews are overwhelmingly awesome. I love you all.**


	4. Chapter 4

**"When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain,"-Mark Twain**

"Are you sure you wanna hang back?" Geoff asked sadly into the phone, cupping it with his hands so no one else could hear.

"Sorry babe, the sharks need us!" Bridgette's reply was sorrowful, but firm.

"I'm gonna miss you, Bridge!"

"I'll miss you too!"

The couple's mushy voices made the others on both ends gag. The McLean park supporters were taking a break from fundraising. The talent show, along with some odd jobs, put the group in a very comfortable money range. They'd already planned out their next big event, a car wash, so there was no panic within them. The plan was for the gang to go to the zoo, but with Bridgette and Gwen going to the local Asian Noodlebarn to protest their shark fin soup and Izzy not speaking to Noah, Geoff and DJ were the only ones going.

Geoff closed his phone, and grinned at DJ, "You ready to get our zoo on, dude?!"

DJ gave him a fist bump, "Aw yeah. I wanna see those cute little penguins first. They have little suits! What's cuter than that?"

Geoff just laughed and the two climbed into Geoff's truck. It'd be nice to have some drama-free bro time.

...

"_I never wanna see your scuzzy face around here ever again!"_

"Chica, please!"

"No! We're over!"

Heather shoved Alejandro through the front door of her house, and he landed in the street with a satisfying thud.

"Chica no! I love you!"

Heather opened her window to scream, "Save it, you dweeb!"

When she slammed the window shut, Alejandro felt hot tears begin to well in his eyes, but he suppressed them. He picked himself up, dusted himself off, and started off down the road. He came across Courtney's house as he walked along.

Katie and Sadie were over helping plan the next fundraiser. When they heard the doorbell, all three girls crooned over Alejandro as he wept openly. They pet his hair down smooth and took turns feeding him ice cream.

"I-I just see her beautiful, angry face everywhere I look!" he sniffed, clutching a tissue tightly in his hands.

"I know!" Sadie exclaimed, feeding Alejandro a spoonful of cookie dough, "We'll take you out somewhere, to take your mind off of Heather!"

Just hearing her name sent the Spaniard into a bawling mess.

"Oops."

"Nice going, Sadie!" Katie cried, giving her friend a glare.

Courtney got a text from Heather: _Wanna hang out?_

"How about the mall?" Sadie asked.

Alejandro pouted, "Heather liked the mall!"

Katie dove in, "What about a movie?"

Alejandro's lip quivered, "Heather liked the movies!"

"How about the zoo?" Sadie mentioned happily. Alejandro wiped his tear-filled eyes, and looked up hopefully.

"Heather... hates animals..."

"Yeah!" Katie screeched, "You, me, Sadie, Courtney, Duncan and Harold?"

Sadie's eyes sparkled like sour milk at the mention of Harold's name.

"Ahh, um, I can't go guys!" Courtney faked being sad, and hid her phone behind her back, "But you all go on without me!"

Sadie quickly called Harold, but he explained that he and Duncan had band practice. "Looks like it's just us three! Don't worry Alejandro, we'll have a great time!"

"Gracias, mi bonita amiga," he grinned, rubbing ice cream off his cheek.

...

"No more soup! Save the sharks!"

Bridgette and Gwen, along with a handful of other protestors, were inside the Asian Noodlebarn establishment, shouting their disapproval.

"You kids better leave before I call the cops!" the owner hissed, but they only chanted louder.

"Thanks for coming along, Gwen," Bridgette smiled, resting her arms from waving her sign.

Gwen grinned back, "No problem! I needed something to take my mind off of Dunc-... the Park!"

Bridgette eyed her suspiciously, but she couldn't interrogate further because a girl had approached them. She was captivatingly beautiful, with sheeny black hair and a long skinny body covered in nothing but short shorts and an exposing red crop top.

"They serve shark fin soup here?" the girl asked innocently.

Bridgette's eyes narrowed, "Um, duh! That's why we're protesting?"

The girl didn't seem to take offense to Bridgette's tone, and she responded, "When I was younger, my dad took me to a lame dolphin show. I was so bored! But then we wandered around the place. I saw a shark and I thought it was the coolest thing: crushing its enemies with one bite. So they're my favorite animal!"

Bridgette flashed the newcomer a smile, "Wanna join?"

The girl grinned, "I'd love to!"

Gwen passed her a sign, and the girl's previous cuteness disappeared.

"_If any of you order the soup, I'll skin you alive!"_ she bellowed, glaring at each and every startled customer in the store.

Bridgette jumped in front of her, "Although I love your enthusiasm, we can't just threaten people, ... What was your name again?"

"Heather?!"

The girl spun around to see Courtney in the doorway. Courtney stomped up to the group, earning dirty looks from Gwen and Bridgette, "Heather, you were supposed to be getting our food!"

"My bad," Heather said, slightly annoyed.

Courtney tugged her friend's arm, "These people are _McLosers!_ We have to go!"

Heather flashed Gwen and Bridgette an apologetic, wide-eyed look, and ran after Courtney.

When they were finally back in Courtney's parked car, Heather fumed, "What is your problem?!"

Courtney gestured widely, hitting the roof, "They. Are. McLosers! We can't like them, because that will distract us from the main goal!"

Heather raised a eyebrow, "Which is...?"

Courtney bunched up her nose and balled up her fists, "_TO DESTROY MCLEAN PARK!"_

"Look Courtney, you're my best friend," Heather said as she attempted to regain her hearing, "and I'm only helping you because of that. You say you've told me everything, but I know a liar when I see one. So spill."

Courtney bit her lip and put the car drive, "I-I... Okay. So remember that night I called you..."

...

"Dude, want a hotdog?" Geoff smiled, pointing to a star on the map labeled _Fried Goods._ They followed the map in the shade of the trees, passing a squawking peacock on the way.

"Whoa," Geoff's eyes widened, surveying the monstrously long line ahead of them, "I think we might be here awhile."

"I'm gonna hit up the bathroom then," DJ jerked his thumb in the opposite direction.

Once he'd thoroughly sudsed his hands, DJ stepped out of the men's restroom with a satisfied sigh. Across the way, there was a see-through walrus exhibit displayed. It wasn't the walruses DJ was focused on though. A girl's back was to him, but it was the most beautiful back he'd ever seen. He felt a breeze under his feet and she seemed to get larger. He then realized she wasn't getting larger; he was getting closer!

This girl had such long, tanned thighs that DJ had to concentrate intently to break away his gaze. The thighs led up to another area, covered with pink jean that he again had to tear his gaping eyes from. His gaze traveled up her slender back to two playful black pigtails on the top of her head, back down to her small shoulder where he saw his own shaky fingers tap.

"Yes?" she spun around. Beautiful.

"Walruses," he stated lamely, "Aha, pretty cute, right?"

"So cute! I love animals!" the girl squealed.

DJ almost sang, "I love animals too!"

Katie gasped, "Name your favorite animal on the count of three! Ready? One... Two... Three!"

Simultaneously they answered, "Koala!"

Katie blushed, "I'm Katie."

"DJ," he squeaked. Behind them, a walrus swam up to the glass, making the water slosh loudly.

Katie looked around, "Are you here alone?"

"Nah, I always travel in the buddy system," DJ smiled, earning a sparkly smile from Katie.

"I'm waiting for my best friend, Sadie! I guess she ate a bad hotdog, and she's been sick for like a half hour!"

"Hotdog?!" DJ cried, "Oh no! Geoff! I gotta go!"

DJ sprinted away, only to come skidding back to Katie. Suavely, he asked, "Would it be too forward if I asked for your number?"

Katie twirled a pigtail in her fingertips, grinning happily, "Not at all!"

...

"I really think we're really getting through to people! No one's ordered the soup!" Bridgette smiled, adjusting her ponytail.

"Yeah," Gwen rolled her eyes, "because chopped up shark fins were probably so popular before."

Bridgette shot her friend a sour look, but another new stranger approached the pair.

"Excuse me, do you know what time it is?"

Both of the girl's jaws popped open. Before them was a tall, dark-haired, very gorgeous teen guy. He sported a green shirt that matched his soft green eyes.

"Ah, um, it's ah, twelve thirty-five," Gwen blushed, after checking her phone's screen.

"He looks familiar," Bridgette whispered in her ear, and Gwen nodded in agreement. He didn't notice the exchange.

"Cool," he smiled, stuffing his hands in his pockets; "My food's supposed to be ready at twelve thirty-nine."

Bridgette's eyebrow arched, "Why thirty-nine? Why not forty?"

His smile faltered, "Because I asked to pick it up at twelve thirty-nine exactly."

"Oh..."

Gwen brushed her friend away, "So what did you order?"

"Well I didn't get the soup!" he laughed, motioning to their signs.

"Good! If you had, we would've had to confiscate your meal until twelve forty," Gwen joked.

The guy's expression fell and Gwen quickly backpedaled, "That was a joke."

"Oh... Well, I'm Trent!"

"I'm Gwen, this is Bridgette," Gwen said, getting lost in his perfect smile.

"So, you guys are protesters?"

Gwen returned his smirk, "Not just protestors, we're also fundraisers!"

"Yeah? What for?"

Bridgette all too willingly jumped in, "Ever heard of McLean Park? We're holding a carwash next week so we can save it."

"Yeah? I have a few buds who are planning some carwash too!"

The girls just nodded; content to just watch him speak.

Trent checked his watch, "It's thirty-nine! I better go."

"Wait!" Gwen's eyes narrowed, "Why did you ask me for the time if you have a watch?"

Trent flashed her a cocky grin as he walked to the counter, "I just wanted an excuse to talk to you."

He counted out nine soy sauce packets and nine napkins, and he was more than pleased to have nine cents as change. He gave Gwen a few little waves as he exited the building.

"He was...nice!" Gwen said finally.

"Kinda weird, if you ask me," Bridgette stated.

"He was really, really cute!"

"Very. But really weird."

Gwen cringed, "Maybe just a little. At least we'll never have to see him again!"

...

"Dude, thanks for saving me from that rancid hotdog!" Geoff clapped DJ's back. A monkey chattered happily, rattling the fence between them as the pair passed by.

"Uh-huh," DJ responded airily, staring at his phone.

Geoff smiled, "Dude, what's up with you? You're totally spaced!"

DJ looked around. Satisfied no one was watching, he leaned in towards Geoff and hushed, "I met the most amazing girl when I went to the bathroom!"

Geoff's eyes scrunched together in confusion and he took a step back, "Um, dude? You met a chick in the dude's room? Ahaha! I don't think that was a chick, dude!"

DJ shook his head, "No, no, after! She was-"

"Get down, man!"

Geoff shoved DJ into a shrub and dove in after him.

"Whoa! What's going on?!"

Geoff resurfaced from the plant and squinted, "I saw some McHaters!"

"What?! Where?"

'McHaters' was the title the McLean Park supporters affectionately gave their rivals, much like they were given the title 'McLosers'.

"Those twin chicks, over there!"

Geoff pointed to the kiosk where Katie and Sadie stood, adorning Alejandro with zoo-themed hats. DJ's eyes popped open, "Are-are you sure?"

"Afrimativo. They were with Duncan the night we crashed their rockin' concert."

"L-let's get out of here," DJ suggested nervously.

As they made their way to the parking lot, Geoff remembered what they'd been talking about.

"So what happened with the bathroom chick?"

DJ tugged at his collar, "Um, we.., we talked?"

"Yeah, and?! Did you at least grab her digits?"

"Of course!... But, oh man, I lost them! Darn!"

"Aw, bummer, dude."

Geoff didn't notice DJ's pseudo-sad voice and drove off happily, as DJ pressed his worried face against the window, staring back at the zoo.

...

"There you are! Jesus, what took you so long?"

"That."

Duncan and Trent were standing outside the Asian Noodlebarn. Duncan looked furious, but Trent was oblivious to it; he was in a cloud of pure love. Duncan followed Trent's pointing finger through the restaurant's streaky window and stopped when it ended at Gwen.

Gwen?!

Trent's lopsided smile tightened when he saw Duncan's shocked expression.

"She's pretty astounding to look at," Trent grinned.

"Yeah," Duncan replied dumbly.

Trent's face fell a little, "Well I saw her first, dude!"

Duncan just chuckled, climbing into the driver seat, "Yeah. You saw her first! Let's get back to practice already, before Justin leaves for his fucking spa appointment."

"I really like her," Trent sighed, tightening his grip on the crinkly, warm paper bag.

"_Peachy fucking keen_. Now can we go?"

Trent slapped his own forehead, "Shoot! I forgot to get Gwen's number!"

"Get in, Elvis!"

"Should I go back?" Trent looked at him worriedly.

"Do whatever you want, but I'm leaving. With the food. No way your fucking love dilemma is getting in the way of my moo shu," Duncan growled. Trent reluctantly got in, and the two sped off down the sticky black road.

...

_Dear stupid journal my juvi counselor is making me write in for no fucking reason,_

_So today my band practiced in the dweeb's garage. We sounded sick, as always, but no thanks to Presley! He was all 'Ooh Gwen's so hot, I just met her, I saw her first Duncan!' and standing around like a pussy thinking about a chick! At least he didn't get her number, or he never would have focused._

_I don't know. Gwen... she's just so damn annoying. Thank shit bricks I haven't had to talk to her or anything since that night in the park. She still thinks I'm an asshole I bet! She wouldn't want to talk to me anyways. But no way in hell am I letting Trent get with her. Not that I'm jealous. He's just too gooey for her. I can tell._

_Whatever. _

_Well my band has a gig coming up, and after that, an anti-McLean car wash. _

_-Duncan_

_..._

**Thanks for reading, please review, and have a great week :)**

**If anyone was wondering, I did write the poem in the last chapter. Also, I have no clue how to write a poem, so can we just pretend it's good, for the sake of the story?**

**This chapter was all about developing the characters and introducing problems. Major Gwuncan coming up!**

**I love you all.**


	5. Chapter 5

**"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it," -Mark Twain**

_Dear Diary,_

_Today I learned a little something about Duncan, and another little something about why he feels the way he does about McLean Park. It all started with the totally relaxing and not at all annoying car ride..._

...

"Goin' to the beach! Goin' to the beach!"

"Izzy, we know. You've said that forty times already." Gwen snapped, pinching the bridge of her nose to calm an ebbing headache.

Geoff drove his truck and Bridgette sat in the front while DJ, Gwen, and Izzy had squished into the back. The McLean Park car wash was the next day and the teens felt they needed a day to unwind from the stress of planning.

"Where's Noah?" Bridgette whispered to her boyfriend.

"Izzy's probably still mad at the dude."

"For what?"

A pause.

"Geoff...?"

Geoff squirmed, "Well, I guess I gave the little guy some bad love advice?"

"Like what?"

Geoff told her about the underwear mishap.

"You WHAT?!" Bridgette punched his arm.

"Ahh! Harsh, Bridge!"

"I can't believe you told him to do that! Don't you realize how fragile their relationship is?"

Geoff frowned, "I know I messed up, Bridge! But I don't know how to fix it!"

"You have to tell Izzy. You know, just be honest with her," she stated matter-of-factly.

Geoff observed Izzy in the rear view mirror, strangling her own hand and rolling her eyes around like a demented, google-eyed paper doll.

"Aw man... I was afraid you'd say that."

DJ stared at his phone, happily awaiting Katie's reply to the joke he'd sent her: _What do you call a grizzly bear with no teeth? A gummy bear!_ They'd been secretly texting every day since their meeting at the zoo, so it was safe to say that DJ was head-over-heels for Katie. He was beyond terrified of her reaction when he'd told her that he was a McLean Park supporter, but she didn't care at all.

"That's okay!" she had said, "I'm only helping Courtney because Sadie wanted to!"

They'd made sure no one else knew about their friendship, just so no problems could arise. And so far, they both found the mysteriousness of their situation intriguing.

"Secret best friends?" she'd text him late at night, just to assure herself it wasn't a dream.

"Always :D," he'd reply confidently. DJ and Katie, despite knowing each other just a short while, knew everything about each other. Their goals, dreams, and fears were on full display and neither of them could be any happier, aside from the small nagging at the edge of their relationship that their friends could have no idea.

...

"Is everyone sure that their respected instruments are in the vehicle?" Harold questioned officially.

Duncan knocked him on the head, "Yes, dorkus. You've checked three times! Can we go now?" The van shuddered as he slammed the trunk closed.

Justin, who was leaning next to the door, jumped forward in shock; his startled expression settled into a neutral scowl. He quickly fixed the few dark stray hairs that had been unsettled by the breeze, "Okay, asshole, your calloused meat mittens are causing irritation to my follicles again."

Duncan grabbed his shirt collar, pinning Justin to the van, "I can do more than cause irritation, you-."

Cody, their perpetually optimistic keyboardist, pushed in between them, "Guys, chillax! Can we focus on the music?"

Trent placed a friendly hand on Justin and Duncan's shoulders, "We're gonna rock today, dudes. Drama Brothers rule!"

Duncan shoved away, glowering; his general angry exterior masked his growing irritation with Trent. Still, the others exchanged looks of concern and annoyance, but the moment was broken when Duncan yelled from inside the van, "Slowfucks! Let's go!"

...

"Heey, Izzy," Geoff reluctantly sidled up to her, kicking up the warm sand as he went.

"Hey Geoff!" she greeted as she got down on the sandy floor and performed a few fast, clumsy somersaults, "Look what I can do!" Izzy kept going, getting covered in sand and dirt, until she crunched over a large shell, breaking it to bits.

"That's a hugangus crab!" Geoff exclaimed, impressed and slightly terrified.

Izzy picked it up to inspect it, shell pieces falling off as she did. "Aw, poor crabby crab," she crooned mockingly at the broken animal.

"Ah, Izzy, I would put it down if I were you..."

It swiftly stuck out its unfazed, pinching claw and grabbed at Izzy's laughing face. Finally clamping onto her nose, Izzy's giggling became slightly panicked, "Geoff? Stuck on Izzy's nose. Ahaha! Ouch! Geoff?"

Geoff grabbed onto the creature's armored legs, "Um, yeah! Hold on, dude!" He began to wrench it away, but it still had a firm grip on Izzy and the extra pulling only made its claws lock tighter.

"Geoff? That isn't helping!"

"Sorry, dude, he's pretty strong!" Geoff stepped back, the squaw of hungry seagulls muted out Izzy's pain induced laughter.

"He wants to go back in the water!" she cried.

"Um, I think he's just pissed, dude!"

She rolled her eyes, "Sometimes I can understand what animals are saying. My uncle's brother actually knows that guy on TV who talks to goats! Ahaha! Ouch! Later, Geoff!" she cringed, and then she sprinted to the shoreline.

"Yeah, um, we can talk about that other thing... later!"

...

Gwen was vigorously applying her third coat of sunscreen when Bridgette found a paper flyer tumbling across the beach.

"Gwen!" she ran up to her whiter-than-snow friend, almost having to shield her eyes. "Geez, Gwen. Buy some fake tanner or something."

Gwen rolled her eyes, "Tried it- doesn't work. What's that?"

Bridgette held up the flyer, "The Drama Brothers are playing here today!"

"_WHAT?!"_ Gwen, in her state of shock, had squeezed the entire bottle of sunscreen into the air. Disgusting white globs sprinkled down over the two.

"Smooth," Bridgette laughed, wiping the coconut-scented goo from her wetsuit's shoulder, "Wanna go watch them? It's free!"

Gwen flicked a spatter of white from her hair, looking at Bridgette unhappily, "Why?"

"Because Duncan isn't our enemy today," she winked.

"What are you implying?!"

"Nothing!"

"Like I care that Duncan's here with his dumb band!" Gwen scoffed.

Bridgette combed through her ponytail with her fingers, a smile played on her lips, "Well you did say you needed to 'get your mind off of him' when we were protesting..."

"No I... I meant like, Duncan...as in all the McHaters! Of course!" Gwen laughed nervously.

Bridgette smiled, going along with her friend's clear denial, "Yeah. Okay, Gwen. So do you want to go listen or what?"

"Whatever," Gwen, trying to ignore her obvious misgiving, grudgingly followed Bridgette to where the band was set up. It was a fair trek from where their stuff was, but DJ was guarding their things, rooted by his lack of coordination to walk and text at the same time. They joined the back of the talkative crowd, their chatty nature suggested the band was on a break, and stood in a place where they could barely see the stage.

"Do you know who DJ's been texting so much lately?" Gwen asked casually, finding another small blob of sunscreen on her arm and rubbing it in.

"That's weird... He has been texting a lot lately! We'll ask him when we get back," Bridgette smiled, "I'm gonna go get a drink. Want anything?"

"I'm good," Gwen replied, searching the crowd. Bridgette rolled her eyes. _I wonder who she's looking for._

...

"Dudes, we're like plutonium separated into chambers to control critical mass until the optimal time of detonation! Boo-yah!" Harold cheered to his four band mates with blank faces.

"We da bomb," Harold sighed and the others' faces lit up, instantly understanding.

"Yeah, we are!" Trent agreed, clapping Harold's back.

For some reason Duncan couldn't recognize, Trent's mannerisms had been nettling him more than usual. He suppressed his urge to kick their lead singer when he suggested they go clean up their instruments.

"I don't think we could have done any better," Justin observed himself in his hand mirror, while Cody wheezed behind him, obviously struggling with a heavy drum set.

"The only thing that would have made it better," Trent started while packing away his guitar, "would have been if we could have played nine songs."

"This again?" Duncan mumbled under his breath, sharing a knowing look with Justin.

"Each song could have been nine minutes, and we could have sung each song nine times, and we could have had nine instruments, and we could have played only nine notes, and we could have gotten four more band members to make it nine, and we could have renamed ourselves The Niney Nines, and..." Trent's expression seemed unsettled, and his left eye had developed a twitch.

Harold nudged Duncan, "Trent could be suffering from heat stroke. Perhaps you would fetch him some water?"

_Great._

After Duncan and Trent had guzzled a few bottles of water, Trent calmed down significantly.

"Hey, thanks man," Trent wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Whatever," Duncan replied apathetically.

"When I'm with friends, I just get a little carried away with my ideas..."

"So, do you like, buy your friends? Or how does that even work?"

"Hey, isn't that Gwen?" Trent shielded his eyes and squinted into the crowd; Duncan leapt to his side.

And there she was, teal highlights, matching lips, and all. Duncan's pulse sped up, and he had to mentally force himself to _stop smiling like such an idiot because what if she sees you. _

Trent smoothed down his hair, "I'm gonna go talk to her!"

Duncan's eyes narrowed, and he quickly thought of a plan, "Hey Trent!"

Trent stopped mid-hop off stage, "What?"

"Cody told me his favorite number is four."

"_HEATHEN!" _Trent charged off to find their keyboardist, and Duncan easily slipped into the crowd.

...

"Izzy?"

"Geoff! Look, I've been working on my cartwheels!"

Izzy looked like she was about to demonstrate, but Geoff stepped in front of her, "Dude, I really have to tell you something."

"Cool! Just one sec!" Izzy performed a perfect cartwheel, and although she landed in a standing position, her feet ended up in an old, scary, black man's plate of watermelon. He only stared at the mess in furious disbelief as he removed his discordant Chef's hat and stood up to face Izzy, who was just giggling.

"Maggot, my dying mother planted that watermelon in our yard when I was only five, and that was the last melon that sprouted," he growled, a tear sprouting in his eye. Izzy took her finger and brought it to the intimidatingly large, tattooed man's face; she dragged it across his cheek and licked the bitter tear droplet off the tip of her finger.

Geoff stood by, speechless, as the large man chased Izzy away, screaming profanities while Izzy contemptuously stuck out her tongue and laughed like a berserk hyena.

Disheartened, he called after her for the second time that day, "Yeah! Dude! We... We'll talk... Later... Whatever, man."

...

"Hey, Sunshine!" a familiar voice called behind her. A frisson of excitement trailed up Gwen's spine, and she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. She turned around to see the delinquent himself sauntering up to her, his enticing eyes bright.

She tried to keep her cool, "What do you want?"

Duncan playfully recoiled, "You're breaking my heart."

"You have a heart?"

"That one hurt," he grinned, "So did you like what you heard?"

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," she gestured for him to look around, "Couldn't exactly see from back here."

"That's okay, we kinda rot."

Gwen's eyebrows flew up, "Are you kidding? You were AMAZING!"

Duncan smiled, "I thought you didn't pay attention?"

_Damn his smile_, she thought anxiously. The way it made her face heat up and her hands go limp, she would have compared seeing his smile to having the flu.

"Well, I heard the end of one of your songs. It was," Gwen abandoned her reticent game and flashed him a genuine smile, "really good."

"Yeah? Maybe I'll have to play you one of my own some time, that is, if you can stand being around guy with no heart."

She punched his arm lightly, "Shut up! That'd be...really cool."

"So you admit I have a fucking heart!"

Gwen smirked, and started walking towards the beach, "Don't push it, mohawk."

He jogged after her, "Was that supposed to be a diss? That was a compliment, Pasty!"

"Was _that_ supposed to be a diss?"

"I guess sickly could be the new bronze..."

By this point, the teens were walking along the ocean line, trailing fleeting footprints in the wet sand.

"So," Gwen started, "I told you my crappy back story last time we talked. It's your turn!"

"Fair enough," Duncan stretched out his arms, "What do you want do know?"

Gwen pursed her lips thoughtfully, "Hmm... Okay, let's start with the obvious. Why do you hate McLean Park?"

Duncan whistled, "Wow Sunshine, straight for the big question! No foreplay?"

"What?! Foreplay?"

"You know, what's your favorite color, what's your least favorite food, why's your hair so awesome, stuff like that."

The corners of Gwen's mouth pulled up, "Okay, fine. What's your favorite color?"

"Comon' Pasty, make up your own question!"

"Duncan!" Gwen laughed, "Just tell me about McLean Park."

Duncan thought this over. "You hafta catch me first, Sunshine!" he called, taking off into a full sprint, splashing through the lapping waves and churning surface foam. Gwen took this as a challenge, and she quickly caught up to him. Laughing, Gwen took a flying leap and tackled him into the muddy, clingy sand.

"You're insane!" he laughed breathlessly, rolling her over and pinning her down. She was so overwhelmingly beautiful to him; her breathing was heavy, and her swimsuit clung to her rising ribcage, her white skin was flushed pink from running against the salty sea air, her blue lips were cracked open from panting and laughing, her soft eyes were so dark and eminently bright like a jeweled star fastened to a silky black sky, and her teal hair was splayed around her like a messy crown.

Gwen's breathing died down, and her alluring eyes darted between his own. Her face was besprent with grains of glimmering sand, and Duncan gently brushed some off her cheek, his fingers trailing along her cheekbone and down her jaw. As a magnetic aptitude began to close the gap between their faces, Gwen's eyes widened, "Wave!"

And a chilling deluge of a wave crashed over them, sending them both into fits of coughing. Duncan sat up beside her, hacking up sea water.

"Okay, you got me," Duncan choked out, "I don't like McLean Park, basically because my life ended there."

Gwen lifted her head, shaking water from her hair, "How?"

Duncan sighed, "Um, well shit. Look, Gwen, I just don't like remembering what happened."

Gwen looked confused, and sad, "What did happen?"

Duncan heaved a heavy sigh, but he decided to go for broke, "I was meeting my friends there one night to tag some trees, but long story short, the cops showed up and I got arrested for drug position."

Gwen's thoughtful expression didn't change, and she nodded for him to continue.

Duncan waved his hand, "But I never touched the shit! Sure we vandalized parks and egged people's cars, but we weren't stoners, expect for this one shitface. Anyways, I'm convinced this fucksack planted it on me and let me take the fall for it. So when I got out of juvi a month later, none of my friends trusted me."

Gwen tentatively placed her hand on top of his own. "God, that's awful. You must've been so lonely," she said quietly.

Duncan smirked coldly, "I still had Courtney. And I joined The Drama Brothers cus' I was obviously kicked out of my previous band. I made it by. But I know my friends would've believed me if that shitnugget cock sucker hadn't used my month away to take charge and fucking brainwash them."

Duncan's fingers wove between Gwen's, the wet sand underneath molding to the shape. Gwen snapped her head to look at him, "I get it."

"Huh?"

"I get why you want McLean Park gone."

"And I get why you want to save it."

They sat quietly in the damp sand, both pensive in hopeless thought, until a stray frisbee landed not too far away.

"Dude! Pass it ba- _Gwen?!_ Sup brah? Duncan, dude! How's it hangin'? " Geoff's surprised voice echoed across the beach. DJ, Bridgette, and Izzy waved behind him. Suddenly smiling, Duncan picked Gwen up, the shine back in his eyes.

"Comon' Pasty! We're a team," he prompted, grabbing the frisbee and tossing it to her.

"Duncan?"

"Yeah?"

"You have a heart."

Duncan just flashed her his flu-symptom causing smile. Grinning ear to ear, Gwen tossed the toy in Geoff's direction and the two ran after it together.

...

"That was intense, y'all," DJ said as he easily carried the bulk of their supplies to their car.

"I really thought you had me when you took that crazy leap off DJ's back," Duncan praised Geoff, who much to his chagrin, lost the final 'point' by mere inches of tackling Duncan.

"Brah, I never knew extreme frisbee could be so frikken awesome!" Geoff laughed, exchanging the intricate handshake he and Duncan had created. Then remembering something important, Geoff ran back to Izzy and covered her eyes.

"Are we playing peek-a-boo, Geoff? Cus' you're going down."

"No Izzy," Geoff sighed, "I have a surprise for you, dude."

He removed his hand, and standing in front of Izzy, was Noah.

"_Noah?!"_ she roared.

He squirmed, "Geoff, I thought you said you'd explained everything?"

Geoff smiled, "Izzy, the panties were all my idea. This little dude actually got this for you, and I told 'em to take it back." Geoff reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box.

Izzy opened it to reveal the little skull ring, and a little gasp escaped her mouth. "Aw," she laughed, her delighted eyes focused on Noah, "You got this? For me?"

Noah smiled, "I'm so sorry, Izzy! I should've just-"

Izzy silenced him with a mouthy kiss, leaving him speechless and blushing. She hopped into his arms, "Izzy loves it! Put it on her?" Noah carefully slipped the orange ring onto her slender finger and they kissed again, the passion of being apart becoming apparent.

Duncan leaned into Gwen, and they exchanged a look, an allusion to everything hopeful in the scene before them.

Then Duncan's phone rang.

_"Duncan? It's Trent! We're in the parking lot, waiting for you."_

Duncan hissed, "Be right there, Elvis."

_"Wait, I think I see you!"_

Duncan jerked his head around, "Um, no, no you don't!"

_"Yeah, and there's Gwen!"_

"..."

_"..."_

"..."

_"Ohh, I get it. You were telling her about me!"_

Duncan sighed, "I'll be right there."

...

Courtney sat at her desk; her head slumped in one hand, the other plunking at her keyboard. She was busy finalizing the permit to have their car wash in the strip mall off Cranberry Avenue for the next day.

...

"So, Noah, dude, you get our permit for the carwash?" Geoff questioned the bookworm being crushed in the back between muscular DJ and Izzy, who needed to 'stretch out'.

"It's done," he stated impassively, "I got the lot on the left side of Cranberry Avenue, because of all the traffic headed that way."

"This is gonna rule!" Bridgette declared, kicking her feet up on the dashboard.

...

_No turning back now_, Courtney thought as she clicked 'accept' to the right lot on Cranberry Avenue. They were going to have the greatest car wash ever; the weather would be perfect, and a baseball game was later on in the day so there would be plenty of through traffic.

...

Nothing could go wrong!

...

**Thanks for reading! I apologize for the hiatus, I've been obsessed with DawnxScott suddenly, and a story I've been working on for them has gotten in the way... My bad. **

**I love you ALL :3**


	6. Chapter 6

**"Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy, you must have someone to divide it with." -Mark Twain**

Gwen wiped the tears stinging at the corners of her eyes away, a black make-up smudge appearing on her thumb as she picked up her favorite pen:

_Dear Diary,_

_I will never trust again, I promise you that. McLean Park will be saved, and I have a new plan._

...

Noah, hand in hand with Izzy, glared at Courtney, who returned the murderous look as she crossed her arms. Geoff watched Alejandro in shock, recognizing him from the zoo, and Heather looked over Geoff with a curious glint in her fluttering eyes. Bridgette glowered at Sadie who was confusedly watching her friend Katie exchange a pleading look with an also distraught DJ. Gwen's gaze switched from Duncan's face to Courtney's, and Duncan, as well as a disapproving Harold, did not stop staring at Trent and the uncomfortable proximity between him and Gwen.

The groups had collided that warm, cloudy morning at the same parking lot, both holding eerily similar neon, cardboard signs promoting their own car washes. Noah looked horrified, and Courtney's expression mirrored his as they simultaneously pulled out their phones.

"I know I booked this lot," Noah frowned, showing Gwen the screen.

"Those guys are here WITHOUT a permit! Because I know for a fact that I reserved this place," Courtney growled contemptuously, waving her phone in Alejandro's face.

The groups continued the awkward stare for another solid minute as the sun hissed around them and the first signs of business began rolling around the block.

Courtney stepped forward, "McLosers! CLEAR OUT. We are having a car wash!"

Bridgette pushed up her sleeves, "McHaters! We were here first! So you can suck it!"

Courtney gasped and Duncan spoke up, "Trent!"

"Yeah?" Trent called back.

"You've abandoned your own band mates!" Harold cried passionately, cutting Duncan off.

DJ stepped forward, "Aight y'all, cars are lining up. Let's just switch off customers as they come, and we can figure out how this mess happened later!"

...

They'd unknowingly closed the gap between the groups, as Gwen and Duncan sat on the fence behind a line of pine trees, blocking their view of the feuding parking lot.

"You know what I miss?" Gwen mused, swinging her legs freely.

"Hm?" Duncan smiled; he hung on her every word. When she'd motioned for him to follow, he hadn't even hesitated.

"Christmas."

Duncan looked at her with a confused smile, "Um. You know that it's summer, right? Warm? No school? Freedom?" he raised an eyebrow, "Hook-ups?"

Somehow missing that subtle hint, Gwen seemed lost with a dreamy look on her face, "I love winter. Obviously I'm not exactly a 'sun person' anyways. I love the dark mornings, the honeyed tea, the twinkling lights..."

Gwen took in Duncan's stunned face and bowed her head, chuckling softly, "You must think I'm such a dork."

Duncan played with the tapering of a thick pine branch, "It's actually kind of a shame. You don't even look like that much of a vampire when you're in the sun!"

Gwen punched him lightly, tucking a stray piece of blue hair behind her ear, "So, the car wash..."

He laughed, "Yeah, what a coincidence, right?"

"Hardly."

"What do you mean by that, Sunshine?"

"I mean, of course psycho-commander-CIT over there planned it this way!"

Duncan rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, weirdly, I don't think so! I haven't seen her this pissed since..." He broke off chuckling.

"What?" Gwen asked, scooting a little closer.

He met her eyes, "Well, since I was with her!"

"Oh..." Gwen looked away. Sometimes she forgot that Duncan dated Courtney, or even dated at all: she didn't like thinking about it. "Do you miss her?"

Duncan guffawed, "That's a good one!" He shoved Gwen's shoulder, pushing the embarrassment right off her face, "Nah, I miss winter more than I miss her, and I kinda hate winter."

Gwen cracked a smile at his obvious teasing, eyeing the tree behind them, "I bet I can think of something winter-y you miss. Christmas trees!"

Duncan followed her gaze to the tree. His face lit up, "Oh, you're right!" he snapped off a branch and held it above them.

_Mistletoe._

Gwen's heart began beating double time. Her jaw clenched into a taut line, and she felt her cheeks heating up like coals as she stared at Duncan; his alluring smile enticed her to lean forward, as if she were just a simple magnet and his numerous piercings were pulling her in. His smile faded as his eyelids drooped into a serious come-and-get-me gaze.

She clutched at the wooden fence she was perched on; almost afraid she'd fall. He leaned into her, their foreheads touching. Gwen picked up her breathing, but Duncan only inched closer.

"You know..." he said quietly, "I'm pretty sure if you love winter so much, it'd be pretty lame of you to break a tradition."

Gwen struggled to gather her words, but she eventually squeaked out, "You might have a point there, mohawk."

Staring at his shoes, she tried to keep her hands from trembling as she cupped his face, allowing herself to take in a wave of toothpaste and musky cologne, and the general scent of pine; she smiled and stored this information away.

Duncan was amused with Gwen's gentle approach, how innocent she seemed. She squirmed when he carefully placed his left hand on her thigh. He closed his eyes, extremely prepared to press his lips against hers.

"Gwen? Where are you?"

She eyes flew wide and she shoved away from their almost-kiss, "Shit! That's Trent!"

Duncan gestured widely, frustrated,"Well shit on my face if I ever interrupt that suck bag from scoring!"

Gwen started jogging away, looking concerned, until Duncan spun her around, "Why does it matter if Trent's looking for you? Why is Trent looking for you? Why the.. How the... fuck did he join your group? What, do you like, like that prick?" He threw the makeshift mistletoe on the ground.

"No!" she cried, "I don't like him! He... Well, I'll tell you on the way back, okay?"

Duncan's brow furrowed, but he nodded sharply and set off in the direction of the parking lot.

"Hey!" she yelled; he turned around.

She was there, up on tiptoes. She draped her arms around his neck and touched his lips to hers.

Life slowed down: every flap of a bird's wing could be measured, every marching step of an ant could be counted, and each droplet of blood pulsating through his heart could be heard through Duncan's rising chest. Her lips were so warm and needy. Gwen caught his lower lip roughly between her teeth, his favorite kind of kiss. He held on to her hips, pulling her closer into him, swaying, savoring every movement she made and every breath she took.

But the moment was all too brief, and he found himself staring into her shining eyes, crinkled by her inherent, blue smirk.

"I don't like Trent," she stated, smiling smugly and tugging at the back of his hair.

They walked back to the lot, and Gwen told her tale, but Duncan only half listened as he was still distracted by the lingering thought of her lips. Remembering her smooth lipstick, he rubbed at his mouth and a blue stain appeared.

He just smiled at the memory.

...

Ding-Dong!

She slowly cracked open her eyes, unsure of where and who she was, until she recognized the sound of their doorbell rapidly chiming out twice more. She clutched at her sheets irritatedly, and rolled to the side to look at her clock.

_7:06?! _

"_Whoever just woke me up... I will get a potato...,"_ Gwen croaked darkly, flinging off her covers. She pulled herself from her bed and rubbed at her frizzy hair, the doorbell's muffled ring sounded again, and again, and again.

_"...I will carve that potato into their exact likeness...,"_ she mumbled to herself, staggering out of her shadowy room while stepping on various solid and sharp objects.

_"I'll invite this person over again, and offer them something to drink...,"_ Gwen slowly made her way down the stairs as the doorbell echoed through the almost empty house three more times.

_"...and then, when they wake up from their drugged drink, dangling in the air, I will drop this person and their twin potato into a vat of boiling water full of bear traps and toasted shit!"_ Gwen declared, clearly not a morning person. She yanked open the door, and she came face to face with someone she never thought she'd see again.

"Trent?"

"Hey, Gwen," he greeted smoothly, "Wanna catch breakfast with me?"

Gwen rubbed her eyes, "I want to go to bed."

Trent's eyebrows flew up, "Whoa! We barely know each other!"

"What?"

"Oh, aha, um... nothing?"

They stood there in the doorway for a few silent, awkward moments until Trent noisily cleared his throat, "So I guess showing up like this wasn't cool, huh?"

If looks could kill, Trent would be singing in the clouds.

He continued nervously, "Well, as long as you're up...!"

Gwen sighed, "Look, I have a big day today."

"Oh yeah? What's going on?" Trent inquired, leaning against the frame.

"Well, we're hosting a car wash today, for McLean Park."

"Can I help?" he smiled. Gwen couldn't help but notice his appearance, Bridgette was right: he was really cute, plus, they could always use help.

Gwen grinned back, "Definitely."

His smile broadened, his emerald eyes shimmering with hope, "Great! Wanna grab breakfast now?"

Gwen crumbled under his guilt-inducing gaze, and she, if only a little grudgingly, went upstairs to change, a detail she forgot to mention to Duncan.

...

"Where's Katie?" Sadie called to her friends, who were busy scouring a rust tinged truck.

Alejandro looked around for the other twin, but when his eyes met Heather's he quickly looked the other way, ogling right at Courtney.

Heather seared. She pulled Harold over to the side, "What the hell? He's over me already? And suddenly he's into that briefcase wielding, tax doing, egotistic slut?!"

Harold cleared his throat, "Um, Heather? I don't know if you know this, but what Courtney is holding is actually referred to as a satchel."

Heather glared at Harold with a murderously odious gaze until his worried expression turned into panting, which fogged up his glasses and caused him to fall over. Heather stepped over the broken man and stalked over to the McLosers' side of the lot.

"Hey cutie! Love the hat," She chirped. Geoff spun around, his un-wrung sponge projecting dirty water into Heather's face.

"Oh, sorry dude, you scared me!"

Heather just laughed, "Oh, please! I don't mind a little water on me. In fact..." Heather grabbed Geoff's bucket of water and dumped the contents over herself. From across the parking lot, Heather could hear a string of swear words spoken in Spanish, making an unabashed smile pull across her glistening cheeks.

Geoff's face seemed as if it would stay permanently confused, locked in the moment where he had absolutely no idea what was going on. Geoff slipped off his pink shirt, and warily handed it to Heather so she could dry herself off, "Um, yeah brah, it's cool. We have a few more buckets of H2O over there, no big."

Heather giggled, "I'm sorry, you don't like wet t-shirts?"

Color sprung up on Geoff's cheeks, suddenly understanding the situation. "Yeah, um, Heather," Geoff stepped back, "I have a girlfrie-"

"Hey! You think you can just come over here and flash your fake fun bags at my man?" Bridgette yelled, pushing up her sleeves, "That is so not cool!"

"Call me," Heather whispered to Geoff before she ran back to the McHaters.

"I will kick your fucking tits down your throat!" Bridgette raged, swinging her arms and legs against Noah and Trent, who had the good sense to restrain her.

...

"Hey! What's the hold-up?!" a red-headed guy screamed from inside his rusty truck that was still in the process of being cleaned by the McHaters.

"Sorry for the wait, some of our staff is absent," Courtney stated, irritated, "Where are Duncan and Katie?!"

"You called?" Duncan asked dryly, giving her an amicable pat on the shoulder.

She whipped around, "What the hell, Duncan?! Where were you?"

An ear shattering horn interrupted the conversation. "Let's gooo! I have corn that needs shucking back home!" the unhappy driver complained.

"Your aura is very cloudy! Might I suggest some deep breathing?" a voice called from within a bright green bug parked on the McLoser's side of the lot.

"Go breathe under water!" the red head yelled out his window.

"I would insist that you refrain from speaking harshly to me, as I am very hungry! I've been waiting here for thirty minutes already..."

The wife-beater wearing driver smiled, "I've been here for thirty-five! ... You like corn...?"

"Love it!" the blonde in the eco-friendly car waved, "I'll follow you!"

The two cars sped off in the same direction, trailing soapy water behind them.

"Wait! You didn't pay!" Sadie cried, waving the money jar.

"This is all your fault!" Courtney growled at Duncan, poking a bony finger into his chest, "And you are gonna fix it."

Duncan took a step back, "How?"

Courtney pushed a bottle into his hands. "This," she rubbed her hands together, partly from nervousness, partly from her machinating activities, "is a permanent blue dye. Go pour it into the McLosers' water buckets."

"What? No way!" Duncan tried to give it back, but Courtney grabbed him roughly by his earring.

"Look, either you do this, or McLean Park will be a fucking landmark by August. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Thoughts of Gwen drifted through Duncan's mind, but memories of flashing sirens and the stabbing pain of his friends' betrayal shrouded them out. He sighed deeply and studied the bottle. Finally, he looked back up at Courtney, "Okay, I'll do it."

...

Fifteen minutes later, the cops were almost called by an angry, old man wearing a green flannel shirt and thick, horn-rimmed glasses, whose car had been splashed with blue dye that wasn't coming out. Bridgette made a deal with the man by giving him all the profit they'd made that day. After the incident, the sponges and rags were ruined, and the few cars waiting in line quickly dispersed to the McHaters' side.

The McLosers, who were suddenly joined by DJ, sat sadly in a circle, watching the full team of McHaters laughing and washing cars at an expert pace.

"I hate them," Bridgette snarled, tapping her foot against the hot asphalt.

"I don't know, they're not that bad," Geoff smiled, returning a friendly wave Heather had thrown his way, much to Alejandro's anger.

Bridgette gasped, "So what...? You... You're attracted to that slut bag?"

Geoff frowned, "Babe, it's not nice to call people names."

Tears welled up in her eyes, and Bridgette ran off from the group.

"Good one," Noah applauded sarcastically, tightening his grip on Izzy's hand. Geoff just frowned at the ground.

"You guys, it's obvious that Courtney did this. Let's go confront her!" Gwen declared.

Trent grinned at her, "Exactly, we can't just give up." Shrugging, the others picked themselves up and they marched across the parking lot.

"Hey, losers!" Heather greeted, rubbing grim off a hubcap. Courtney laughed beside her.

"You sabotaged us!" Noah accused, throwing a blue rag at their feet.

"No, Duncan did," Courtney's smile was curled into an evil smirk.

Gwen's face fell, "No he didn't. He would never."

Courtney shrugged, "Go ask him!"

Gwen snatched the rag that had landed beside the snickering duo; a disbelieving frown occupied her face. She found Duncan at the other side of the car. His eyes lit up when he saw her, but dulled when he noticed the rag and her broken expression.

"Gwen!..."

She walked right up to him, the others followed behind and the McHaters stopped their work to listen.

"Did you really have something to do with this?" Gwen asked, her voice cracked.

Duncan considered lying, but looking at Gwen he knew he'd never be able to.

"Yeah, yeah I did that."

Gwen's eyes widened, "What?"

Duncan glared at her, "Look, Gwen, you have your goals, and I have mine."

"But you cheated!"

Duncan's hard look fell into a guilty frown, "Gwen, I didn't want to."

"Then why did you? I trusted you, you pig!" Gwen spat, backing away.

"Gwen, I..." he remembered the overwhelming flood of pain he'd felt when he thought about the park being saved; it had clouded out his ideas of right and wrong. Immediately filled with regret, Duncan reached out to her, "No, I just couldn't..."

Gwen swatted his arms from her, "No! I can't believe you've been lying this whole time! All of you," she gestured to the offending group, "are horrible people, and we will save that park no matter what!"

No trace of the girl he'd kissed only an hour earlier was left in Gwen, and he could see it. Duncan stepped away, defeated.

Gwen, with Trent glowering at her side, retreated back to her group, "You have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into. Prepare for a fucking war!"

And as they angrily walked away, Izzy kicked over a few of their buckets of water, laughing contemptuously. Gwen turned around once to lock eyes with Duncan. A nagging anger mixed under her skin, and she rubbed her lips, trying to forget the last moment of trust she'd placed with him. He stared on, guilty and miserable.

It was over before they'd even begun, and he had no idea how to fix it.

...

**Thanks for reading.**

**I LOVE YOU ALL.**


	7. Chapter 7

Gwen was a ticking time bomb; she muttered to herself, throwing sandwiches together with ungraceful and misplaced fervor, cheese and tomatoes sloppily spilling onto the counter bereft of ever being in a culinary masterpiece.

"Whoa, whoa!" Bridgette clamped onto Gwen's plastic encased hands with her own, concern radiating in her almond eyes, "Gwen! Not so violent!"

"So you suddenly don't like the way I make sandwiches?! Because at least mine don't taste like salt water and Geoff's saliva!" Gwen sneered, not even a hint of humor in her thick, cracking voice.

Bridgette let go, offended by Gwen's outburst and started for the door, "A kissing joke? Good one, Gwen. It's obvious you need some time to cool off. Noah, Trent and I are gonna keep packing, but seriously? You need to breathe."

Suddenly alone, Gwen peeled off her gloves and her slouching hairnet soon followed to the crumb-covered floor. She shed her cumbersome apron and sighed heavily, already regretting being short with her friend.

The McLean Park Supporters were busy trying to make up for their last failed project by holding a Make-A-Meal, where they prepackaged refrigerated meals and sold them for cheap to schools and church luncheons.

Gwen turned to her messy workstation, a battlefield of her capricious behavior, and cursed her own inability to control her vicious mood. Yes, Gwen was upset over Duncan. When she recalled his calloused hands, she wanted to wash her own. When she remembered his musky scent, she wanted to vomit. Everything about him repulsed her yet she still wished he was there, trapped in his gentle hug, a thought that never ceased to bring hot tears to the corners of her eyes.

Audibly sighing again, Gwen slowly picked up a rag to wipe the ketchup splattered walls, suddenly exhausted. A guilty, angry, loneliness burgeoned in her chest, making her want to sink to the cream tile floor and tuck in her head like a scared turtle.

_Duncan..._

"Gwen?"

She couldn't believe it. As if saying his name were somehow an old children's curse you'd say in the middle of the night to a toothpaste splashed bathroom mirror, there he was.

He walked into the kitchen, timidly at first, "I thought I'd find you here, Sunshine."

Her eyes narrowed, "Well yeah, we had flyers. Plus Trent probably bragged about it, so good job."

He nodded, scarcely making eye contact, "Look, I'm sorry, okay?"

Duncan felt a tightness in his chest by the way Gwen looked at him. Never wavering, she wore an expression of painful tolerance and simple dislike, a slight frown and blinking, distant eyes. She didn't care. That was it. That was all. She didn't care, and nothing he would say could change that.

"This is really hard for me. Just," his voice was strained, hoarse almost, "give me a second chance."

Her face didn't change, and he had to look away when he heard that searing, heartbreaking word:

"No."

...

"IZZY LOVES CAMPING!"

"IZZY DUDE, TRY NOT TO SCREAM IN THE RIDE 'CUS IT REALLY ECHOES!" Geoff, laughing, scolded at equal volume.

"SORRY GEOFF, I'M JUST SO EXCITED!"

"Guys!" Trent said while holding his ears, "I like camping as much as the next guy, but can we keep it down a little? Gwen finally went to sleep!" The whole car held their breath, but the irritable goth only shifted in her unbuckled seat, making happy little noises of contentment. Noah and DJ, the ones nearest to her, exchanged looks of relief.

It had been Trent's idea, a camping trip to Crystal Lake to reward themselves for the success of their Make-A-Meal. Granted, they were still overshot by the McHaters and had a lot of catching up to do, but a relaxing trip to the woods could be just the thing they needed to spark new ideas.

"Kay dudes, we're here," Geoff grinned, climbing out of the cab.

Bridgette and Izzy cheered, while Trent gently shook Gwen's shoulder. Smacking her lips sleepily, Gwen's eyelids slowly cracked open to Trent's overly enthusiastic smile. She groaned at the sight and soundlessly turned over.

They rolled out their tents and set up chairs, joking and laughing all the while. Noah almost cried when Geoff suggested using his current novel beside the latrine, and had Izzy found a bird's nest to terrorize much to Bridgette's annoyance. Surprisingly, DJ wasn't offended when Izzy started throwing the baby birds in the air to teach them how to fly, and didn't even join in on the laughter when it became apparent that the barely feathered creatures could, in fact, fly, as they effortlessly glided around to claw and peck at Izzy's face.

DJ's mind was somewhere else entirely, more specifically, a slowly decreasing fifteen miles away.

...

"Why are we camping again?" Sadie wondered out loud, her moist hand inside a bag of stale cookies.

Courtney, who was behind the wheel, snorted, "Please. The last thing I wanted was to be out here with you freaks! I'm only here because Katie pointed out nature lovers would be out here this weekend and we'll have a chance to change their stubborn, tree humping ways."

"Ah, chica, nature is beauty! The juicy fruit, the lush grasses, the tender leaves..." Alejandro trailed off smiling, no doubt thinking of the warmer climate he grew up in.

"Go back to the commune, hippie," Courtney scoffed, making Duncan chuckle in the backseat.

"Something funny, jailbird?"

Duncan suppressed his giggles, "Courtney, you're a CIT. That means you're going to be, you know, at a summer camp some day. And those things usually happen in nature!"

Courtney sighed, "You might have a point, but when I'm a counselor I won't be stuck with you losers. I'll be teaching bright, energetic, ready-to-learn kids: an activity actually worth my time."

Duncan had forgotten about that aspect of her. Though she was a little rough on the edges, Courtney actually had a sweet side to her. Opposite her cold, insensitive lawyer personality, there was the smart, driven, freckle-nosed goody-two-shoed girl he'd fallen for. But that girl was gone, absorbed by her evil ambitions, and anyone with eyes could see that. He smiled devilishly, "Sorry, princess, but kids are mindless, obnoxious assholes, and they'll attach a dodge ball rope to the pole in your butt faster than you can say 'stop wiping your boogers on my pillow!'"

Katie's squeals interrupted Courtney's pointed response, "WE'RE HERE! WE'RE HERE! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Sadie looked confused, "What's so great about having no toilet, and getting eaten by mosquitoes?"

Katie just flung open her door and launched herself into the dirt. Let her first vacation with her secret boyfriend begin!

...

It was during the car wash. DJ had flashed her a mischievous smile and headed for the woods (not far from where Gwen and Duncan had happily sat) and she quickly trailed after.

After exchanging a long-awaited kiss, the couple settled into the grass. A small butterfly landed on a bobbing flower close to the couple. "Ew!" Katie screamed, "Kill it!"

DJ looked horrified, "Girl, it's just a harmless butterfly!" He addressed the insect in a cooing voice, "'Ey little man, where are you from?" This particular monarch had been tagged, traveling all the way from Illinois. A man very interested in the species had raised it, tagged it, and released it in the hopes of getting a call to see what the fate of his beloved experiment had become.

DJ smiled at the colorful little bug as it lazily fluttered away to a new flower. Katie admired him, "You're, like, so gentle and sweet, DJ. I've never dated anyone like you."

He took her hand in his, "Maybe it's time to say you have?"

She gasped, grinning ear to ear, "Are you asking me out?!"

He leaned in to kiss her, and with that a summer romance officially began, just as another was beginning to fall apart.

...

"Guys?" Geoff asked abruptly, his marshmallow dipping into the fire, "Why do we really want to save McLean Park?"

The weighty question earned a few seconds of contemplating silence and Gwen was the first to jump in, "Well you all know the story about my dad..."

They nodded and Geoff continued, "And that's really deep, man, but it's just, I don't know! We're working so hard and for what, dude? The place is kind of a sty."

Bridgette spoke up, "Well you're doing it for me, babe! And I'm doing it for the animals. I couldn't stand to see all those poor animals lose their homes!"

"Same here, sister," DJ nodded, spearing another marshmallow.

"What about you, Trent?" Bridgette asked the taciturn musician. He scooted closer to the fire and glanced at Gwen, all the answer any of them needed.

Gwen, suddenly uncomfortable, veered away from herself, "Izzy, do you have a reason you're helping?"

She smiled, "'course! I'm doing it for my Noah bear!"

All eyes went to Noah, and reluctantly he closed his paperback, "Yeah, well, you all know the library off Main? The one two minutes from the library?" Stirrings of recognition ignited among his friends; he cleared his throat and continued, "Well, I walk to the park and read there. It's not like my family gives two hurrahs where I am, and it's been like a," he struggled to find his words, "hideout, away from them all. I'd hate to see it go."

A few disdained pats on the back were offered, but Noah would have no pity. A new energy enveloped the band of fundraisers; the narrowed determination to win became necessary, no matter the cost.

...

Duncan had heard the whole thing, of course. He came trooping back to his own people and glanced around. None of the others had taken much notice of his absence, but Katie flashed him a wink. He shook his head and tucked into a plate of food that had been left out for him.

Yes, they'd orchestrated the whole thing. Duncan offered her an 'I O U', an agreement so binding it might as well have been engraved on his forehead, in exchange for her feeding a fake story about nature lovers to Courtney to get them all up here. Unbeknownst to him, Katie already had a motive, so her deal was doubly sweet.

The McLoser's conversation had sparked an interest in him: what were his own team's motives? Katie and Sadie were easy to pin down; they'd do anything for a new shopping venue. Harold obviously had a weird thing for Sadie, and Alejandro was presumingly helping because of Heather. Why he was still hanging around was a mystery to Duncan, but he didn't dwell. Heather was probably helping because Courtney had insisted. And that led him to the big question.

Why was Courtney so bent on destroying McLean Park?

His mind was swimming, but Alejandro's worried voice tore through his swarming thoughts.

"Duncan! The skinny chica, Katie! She's gone!"

...

"DJ? DJ?!" Bridgette called out miserably, the powerful beam of her flashlight passing over countless identical tree trunks.

"Yo DJ! Comon' man, where are you?!" Geoff yelled, directly on Bridgette's heels.

It was the middle of the night when Trent had gotten up to pee. Upon returning his eyes wandered over the sleeping friends, eager to locate Gwen, when he noticed DJ's absence and woke up the others immediately. All panic, led by Izzy, abounded and a frantic search party was formed after waiting a full ten minutes in the unlikely case DJ has just gone on a very long bathroom break.

"Let's check by the lake!" Gwen cried, but her eyes narrowed and her voice hardened authoritatively, "But _stay together_. Do you know how many slasher flicks have started off like this?"

And to the lake they stumbled.

It was Noah who first heard the noise. He gestured for the gang to stop, hissing, "Wait, wait! Do you hear that?"

A strange, musical laughter echoed off the water, and a few loud splashes followed the string of generic water movement.

"Dude, it's the Lady of the Lake," Geoff's eyes became as wide as frisbees.

Bridgette punched his arm, "Don't be dumb!"

The haunting laughter started up again, and a quick film of sweat appeared over Bridgette's skin.

"W-who's gonna check?" Trent asked shakily.

"Not me," Gwen said, locking her hands on her hips, "I've seen movies."

Bridgette gave Noah a pleading look. He sighed, and deftly made his way over the rocks to the water.

"Whoa."

"What is it?" Bridgette hissed.

He turned around; a look of genuine astonishment adorned his reddened cheeks, "Um, I think we should leave."

So the others scrambled over the rocks and over to Noah's position, squinting their eyes towards the ghoulish noises. "Whoa," they said in unison.

"Aw yeah, DJ!" Geoff screamed, chuckling, "You go, man! Way to bang the Lady of the Lake!"

DJ and Katie, completely nude, sunk into the water, frightened and embarrassed.

"Man, we were just swimming! What the hell are you guys doing here?!"

"We heard shouting! Katie?" Courtney came rushing through the woods.

"Katie?! Katie?!" Sadie screamed, charging after a now snickering Courtney, Duncan and Alejandro close after.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Gwen shouted, to which Courtney noticed them and was stunned.

"What's going on?" Sadie bawled.

DJ emerged from the water and retrieved his shorts, all the while shouting, "Guys! Stop! I can explain!"

Gwen glared at him, "You're screwing the enemy?!"

"No! No screwing!"

Courtney interjected, "Katie, you traitor!"

Duncan added, "Atta boy, DJ!"

"Don't talk to me, Duncan, man," DJ frowned.

"Katie! What the flying fuck?! You have a secret boyfriend?" Sadie waved her fists in the air.

"Sadie, I can explain!"

"No need!" Courtney snapped, "Get out, we're going!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Katie!"

"Traitor!"

"IZZY WANTS TO SCREAM TOO!"

**"STOP!"** Noah commanded, and all yelling ceased, "Why can't Katie and DJ keep dating?"

The usually comforting sounds of a summer night, such as rustling leaves and lapping waves, fell silent as the teens pondered over this question.

Gwen was the first to come up with an answer. She didn't look at Duncan, but she knew he was listening when she said, "We're enemies. We want different things, and we're both willing to do whatever it takes to win. As long as that remains the case, Katie and DJ can't be together."

Katie spoke, "But, I don't really care if-"

Courtney cut her off, "That's enough, traitor!"

Courtney, alongside Alejandro, shooed Katie off with Sadie steaming mad behind. Duncan lingered, but said nothing.

"...we're both willing to do whatever it takes to win."

Her words were so true; he felt them under his skin. He needed McLean Park destroyed, and she needed it saved. There was no middle. She was wrong about one thing, and he smirked. Whatever happens, there won't be a winner.

...

**I have a very important question for you all:**

**Do you think McLean Park should be torn down, or rebuilt?**

**Team Duncan? Or Team Gwen?**

**I love you all. c:**


	8. Chapter 8

...

_Dear Diary,_

_Today I was annoyed in more ways than one, and that was it. At least I got flowers out of it- I like to watch them wither._

_Much hate,_

_Gwen_

...

"Hello, how may I help you?" the dour, inflectionless cashier asked from underneath her blue bangs.

"Do you serve 'top-notch-o's here?" the patron inquired. The cashier looked confused, so he explained, "They're like normal nachos, but they come with some sort of trivia card, and the answer is printed at the bottom of the container. It's pretty much the highlight of my visits to the comic book store, because the place that sells them-"

"Harold?" the cashier interrupted.

His red eyebrows rose and he recognized her. "Gwen?"

They stared at each other for a few silent moments, the white noise of the movie theater mulled behind them.

"Soo.. Top-notch-o's?"

"Sorry, Harold, no such luck. We have normal nachos!"

Harold's nose scrunched in annoyance, "Curse your fallibility to understand the importance of play on words! I won't have your common 'nachos'."

Gwen pursed her lips, "You can just call them 'top-notch-os'."

"Will you be including a trivia card?"

"No."

"Then I will not bow to your uncreative snack regime!"

"Either order something or leave," Gwen growled, her patience waning.

He considered the menu, "Um... How's the popcorn?"

"Popcorn-y! What do you think?!"

He frowned, and with a knowing finger in the air, he stated, "Movie theaters don't throw out their popcorn, they just add more to the top. It's like a medieval porridge, where it sits on a continual boil and the servants just dish it out without further inspection. What if I get the old popcorn?"

"Harold!" Gwen shouted.

"Yes?"

She took a deep breath, "Do you want popcorn?"

"And a medium drink," he smiled. Then he added, "I get the medium because-"

"I don't care," Gwen waved her hands dismissingly and busied herself with getting his food.

"But don't you want to learn about my theory of bladder capacity?" Harold asked, feeling a little shocked.

Gwen slammed the paper box on the counter in front of him, spilling a few buttery kernels off the side, and looked him dead in the eyes, "I cannot scream 'no' loud enough to express how much I do not want to know that."

"Huh," Harold wondered out loud. He picked up two straws and handed her a bag of silver dollars.

"What is this?" she asked, clearly exasperated. Customers behind Harold were beginning to stir with impatience.

"I always pay for my wares in silver dollars. I find it more historically stimulating than normal currency."

Gwen's glower would've sent the devil himself running, but Harold just kept on happily chattering away about Eisenhower's profile and how it compared to the other presidents'. She was really beginning to regret her summer job.

...

Band practice was just beginning in Cody's utilitarian basement. There was a towering pile of boxes, scuttling spiders, and a mold stink more pungent than any air-freshener plug-in could counter, but it was a quiet place to work. Duncan was just suggesting a new song cover to try when the door swept open, angrily crashing against the dirty brick wall. In walked Trent, unbidden in Duncan's mind.

"Hello Drama Brothers!" Trent shouted cheerily, his arms spread wide over his head, "I have big news!"

"You finally got your period? Your boyfriend will be so stoked!" Duncan jeered, only slightly smirking. Ever since the events at the campground, Duncan's tension with Trent had escalated. He walked away and plopped down on Cody's old couch: it smelled like mothballs and Cheetos, and the mushrooming dust settled around his thighs. Trent just ignored him. Harold and Cody wandered over; Justin also looked up from his compact mirror.

Trent cleared his throat and began his orate, "You all know Gwen, right?"

Cody sighed dreamily and breathed, "Gwennn," he paused to admire the mental picture he'd conjured in his head, and happily asked, "Who could forget her?"

"That's the McLean Park supporter, right?" Harold said nonchalantly, "We talked today at the movie theater. She's okay. Her blatant disregard of food preparations left a lot to be desired, though."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Trent sputtered, motioning for Harold to slow down, "Hold up. You talked to Gwen? Why was she at the movie theater?"

"Calm down, Dorky Balboa," Harold glared, then chuckled at his own lame insult, "Heh-heh. Dorky Balboa..."

"Harold!"

The door Trent had left open slammed shut, making them jump. Harold composed himself, "She works there. She gave me popcorn grit."

"What?" Duncan yelled, becoming irritated. Why was everyone always talking about her? Couldn't they have band practice once in a while?

"What's your news, Trent?" Justin asked drolly, inspecting his cuticles, not really caring but reminding Trent of the situation.

"Oh right," Trent grinned, "Well, my news is, I'm going to ask her out!"

This new, if not obvious, information sunk in.

Harold was the first to offer an opinion. "I disapprove. She is mine and Duncan's sworn enemy pertaining to the McLean park issue, and I cannot condone such behavior," he stated, crossing his arms.

Trent half-smiled and said, "I'll keep that in mind, Harold."

Cody patted Trent heartily on the back, fighting the urge to weep for several hours while eating cookie dough, his tears dripping into the bowl, and watching The Notebook and hiding under a safety blanket that smelled like snot, and smiled, "Congratulations, man. She's a mega babe."

"Thanks, man," Trent grinned back, "You think I got a chance?"

Cody nodded, hiding his lovelorn feelings, "Yeah, man, I do. Who wouldn't want to take a stab at the Trent-meister?"

"Get a room, fuck-wads," Duncan groaned, stuffing his face into a pillow.

"Duncan, what do you think?" Trent asked, seemingly genuine. But Duncan could see through the facade; Trent was just rubbing in the fact that he had lost and Trent had won. Duncan looked up at him, trying not to look like he cared.

"Do whatever the hell you want, Elvis," he shrugged, taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

Trent leaned closer to him and smirked, "I think I will."

_That sleazy asswipe_. Duncan exhaled a seething, smoky breath, picked up his instrument, and shoved out the basement door.

"Um, we need him to practice," Justin pointed out.

"Should I go get him?" Cody asked, unhappy at the prospect of tracking Duncan down.

"Let the varlet go, guys," Harold held up his hand. The others gave him quizzical looks and he grinned, "Varlet is today's medieval word of the day!" His expression turned more serious, "Don't you subscribe to Jousters Monthly?"

...

"Hello, how may I help you?" Gwen droned, hiding underneath her uniform-issued hat.

"Gwen, hey!"

Her head snapped up, "Trent?" He was smiling shyly, and he held out a bouquet of red carnations. His guitar was strapped around his chest. Panic set in. Gwen's eyes went wide and she gripped the side of the counter, grappling with words. She managed a smile. "What, um, what is this?"

Trent placed the bundle of flowers on the counter and reached for his guitar. "No!" Gwen cried, "Don't sing!"

Trent looked hurt, "Why not? I wrote you a song! It took me all night!"

"Oh god," Gwen muttered.

"Be my girlfriend!"

"Trent..."

"You look so cute in your uniform."

"Trent. Stop."

"How about one date?"

"Trent, I'm working!"

"So, let's go to a movie!"

Gwen sighed, but Trent's puppy dog pout had wormed its way into her stubborn refusals. Reluctantly Gwen nodded her head, "Fine. I get off in an hour."

Trent's smile returned, "See you then." He walked off, and suddenly Gwen felt the heavy, unsettling atmosphere that he'd forged slip away, the only lingering discomfort coming from the red carnations next to the napkin dispenser.

...

Izzy and Noah sat snuggled together at the theater, Izzy contently eating from a jar of pickles, when another couple sat down in front of them.

"Izzy put your feet down. It's rude," Noah mock-scolded.

She rolled her green orb eyes, "It's just Courtney and Alejandro!"

"Wait, what?"

"More popcorn, Chica?" Alejandro waved the snack under Courtney's nose.

She swatted it away, disdaining Alejandro's offer. "Ew! No! It's dripping with fake butter!" she squealed. Someone in front of them turned around to shush her. She glared back.

"True," he said, setting it down. He coughed, "Thanks for agreeing to this."

Courtney's smile was thin, but she still said enthusiastically, "I'm glad you asked me out! I haven't had a day off from campaigning in weeks."

"And I have not been able to escape from the horrible, self-loathing solitude Heather created when she left me exactly twenty-two days," Alejandro looked at his watch, "Ten hours, forty-four minutes ago... until now."

Courtney cringed with discomfort, but took Alejandro's hand in her own, "I'm so sorry, Alejandro. You're still not over her?"

Alejandro got a distant look in his eyes, "One can not just 'get over' the love of one's life, mi bonita. Do to so would be a long, and excruciatingly painful process. I'd rather live in denial."

"But why?" Courtney asked with determination.

"Because, Chica, nothing eats away at a person quite like the guilt of hurting someone you love."

Courtney swallowed the lump in her throat, "I have to go."

He tilted his head questioningly, "What?"

"I.. I'm sorry," she murmured, standing up.

"Wait!" Alejandro called, but Courtney had already sidestepped through the aisle and dodged out the doors. "Ah mi dios," Alejandro sighed, dropping his head into his hands.

"Pst! Al! Al!" came a voice from behind him. He turned to come face to face with Izzy, her lips around a straw, sucking loudly from a cup.

"Um, Lizzy? No?" Al asked, confused.

Noah interjected, "Her name's Izzy. I'm Noah. We saw what happened."

"_SHH!" _Someone hissed. Izzy smacked her lips in defiance.

Alejandro shook his head, "It doesn't matter. My heart belongs to Heather!"

"The girl who dumped water on herself at the car wash to impress Geoff?" Noah asked, obviously judging Alejandro's taste in women.

"She's much more than that, amigo," Alejandro said lovingly, his lip quivering.

"For the love of god, be quiet," another moviegoer complained.

Izzy suck out her tongue, then looked back at Alejandro, "So... why were you here with Courtney?"

Alejandro's brave face crumbled and tears sprang to the corners of his eyes. Ignoring her question he turned around fully to face them, sitting on his knees, "How do you two get along so well?"

Izzy laughed, "We don't!" She turned to Noah, "Remember that underwear thing a few weeks back?" Someone close by shushed them, with several others' impatience groans following.

Noah nodded and whispered, conscious of their disturbance, "I really messed up. I almost thought we were over!"

Izzy squeezed his chin in her pale hand, her orange skull ring on full display, "No way. I wuv my Noah-bear!" He smiled sweetly back at her, then glanced at Alejandro, who was becoming a wreck.

"Listen, Alejandro, if you want Heather back, you have to go fix things. No matter how bad things get, if you're willing to work for it, the situation can change," Noah said, a sage tone in his usual dry speech.

Alejandro stood up, filled with hope and renewed dignity, "Thank you, compadres. Knowing our stances on the McLean debate, I appreciate your honest words. Adios!" And with that, Alejandro stood, and shuffled triumphantly through his aisle to the door.

"Hey everyone, he's leaving!" A cheer arose from the crowded theater; Izzy and Noah just exchanged proud smiles before resuming their pickle munching and movie watching ways.

...

Courtney was ready to come clean. She was ready to tell him everything, cry, and apologize a hundred times. But as she sat outside his house in her car, for who knows how long, she thought about Chef's Hatchet, and the strip mall, and how much easier it was to fight for something so trivial than face her ever present fear. And there it sat in that house, she was sure, avoiding it's father, smoking it's cigarettes and burning her pictures with it's scratched silver lighter.

So she drove away, somehow ending up at Sadie's house. And she sat wordlessly on her floral couch, picking at a loose thread at the elbow of her fatigues, as Sadie hummed and chattered about some big event that had happened that day that Courtney had no interest in. Strangely enough, it was just Sadie, no Katie. Katie hadn't been seen much since the camp debacle.

"So why are you at my house again?" Sadie asked as she brushed out her small dog's fur.

"I couldn't go into Duncan's," Courtney replied robotically, not recognizing what she'd just admitted.

"You were at his house? I thought you hated Duncan?" Sadie asked, truly confused.

"I do hate him!" Courtney yelled, "I hate him! I loathe him! If hate were people, I'd be China!"

"Courtney, you're scaring Coconut," Sadie whimpered, eyes wide.

Courtney realized that she'd been screaming, "Sorry, Sadie. It's been a long day."

And Sadie knew better than to pry, but she offered her ice cream and movies anyways, and Courtney accepted both with only half a mind present. Her mind wasn't swimming in guilt; it was drowning. But her fear was too great to face, so she'd hide behind her campaign, and hope that time would bury her shame.

So as Sadie laughed open mouthed, blowing bits of popcorn into the air as Cady added foot cream to Regina's face lotion, Courtney planned her next fundraiser, dedicating every fiber of her body that wanted to focus on her pain, to the cause. And this fundraiser would be her masterpiece, and no one, not even Gwen and her band of idiots would be able to recover from its devastation.

...

**Hey guys, thanks for the million reviews :D they make me so happy. Turns out, absolutely no one is team Duncan, poor guy! Sorry it's taken so long to update, I'll try to be better. Thanks for reading, feel free to drop me a line with any questions or comments in the reviews, and I sincerely hope you're all having an amazing summer.**

**Love you all**.


	9. Chapter 9

"**We are all alike, on the inside," -Mark Twain**

...

_Stupid journal my juvi counselor makes me write in and I want to bash him over the head with you:_

_Go die._

_Okay, now that that's out of the way, today Courtney came over to discuss her 'brilliant' new money making idea. Yeah, it's a good plan. Yes, Courtney has a great rack. Did I care? NO! Because all I can think about is Gwen! Gwen Gwen Gwen obnoxious, arrogant, hateful, selfish, chill, hot, funny, sensitive, awesome Gwen. I miss her stupid blue lipstick, and the way she cracks her right hand knuckles when she's uncomfortable, and her weird love of grapefruit, and her dumb infatuation with McLean Park. I hate that fucking place, now more than ever!_

_But Gwen loves it, and she hates me for hating it._

_I don't think I can ever get her back, maybe it's time to move on._

_-Duncan_

...

There was no conversation. They quietly listened to metal spoons scraping against cold glass dishes, the friendly laughter of strangers, and the hard rain pelting against the tall, white-trimmed windows of the quaint ice cream shoppe. Behind them, the large woman who served them earlier happily enumerated the flavor choices for the third time to an indecisive couple.

"So," Alejandro was the one who finally broke the silence, "Thank you, _amigos_, for coming."

Izzy slid her sunglasses down her nose and glanced at her boyfriend, who did the same. They were both wearing tan trench coats with matching fedoras.

Heather rolled her eyes. "Were the disguises really necessary?"

Izzy pushed her glasses to their original position. "Can't be too careful."

Izzy cast a sidelong glance at a man dressed in a giant ice cream cone costume, the one Noah had to restrain her from kicking when they first entered the establishment. The weird cartoony smile and cloth eyes were plenty ominous without the cracks of lightning outside.

Noah nodded in agreement. "Gwen would skin us alive if she found out we were here with you two, and Courtney would take those skins and make monogrammed towels for 'Chef's Hatchet'. This is too dangerous!"

Alejandro frowned into his chocolate sundae and said, "We just wanted to properly thank you. You two are the reason I found _mi bolas _and fixed things with Heather. You saved our relationship, amigos, despite the feud between us, and I thank you deeply." Heather nodded absently.

Izzy grinned and stabbed her spoon into the large banana split that sat in front of them. "Oh, it was nothing," she said quickly, shoveling a spoonful into Noah's mouth.

"Buth you haff to," Noah paused his sentence to swallow the frozen, unbidden mouthful and glared at Izzy, who only smiled sweetly back. He started again. "But you have to admit, this feud is getting out of control."

Izzy bobbed her head. "For sure! Two days ago, I went to DJ's to see if he wanted to go skunk chasing with me, and he said no!"

Noah gave her an incredulous look. "Is that an activity you two usually do together?" he asked dryly.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "That's not the point, Noah-Boa."

"And what is the point?"

Izzy stabbed the ice cream again. Her eyes were worried as she said, "The point is, he was covered with cheesy dust, it looked like he hadn't shaved in weeks, and he answered the door holding Bunny in his underwear! Not his PJs, his _underwear_. Bunny was like, blinking Morse Code to me, but I only know like five letters so all I got was 'd t l?' It was a little strange, and," she laughed, "I know strange!"

"You are strange, no one's arguing. But that's nothing," Heather said, flipping her straight hair over her shoulder, "Katie won't even come out of her house, not even for Sadie. The wonder twins hadn't spent a day apart until Gwen the Halloween monster basically introduced Katie to DJ."

Alejandro sighed sadly and draped his arm over Heather's backrest. The rain became seemingly louder, and the windows darkened noticeably. "I just cannot believe Duncan and Gwen split up such a beautiful couple," he shook his head.

Noah was gently feeding Izzy a spoonful of oozing chocolate syrup and banana chunks, and without looking away from her open mouth he replied, "Gwen and Duncan didn't do this. It was Courtney. She was the one who told him to sabotage our car wash."

Heather's head snapped up from watching the rain splatter on the window. "How did you know that?" she demanded, eyes wide.

Noah smirked, his fingers lingering on Izzy's chin. "I didn't for sure, until now, of course. It's obvious she's the brains behind your operation, and she's as crazy as they come."

Heather cleared her throat and replied, "Yes, well, this has turned into a bit of an obsession for Courtney. Anything to distract her from her guilt, I guess."

"Guilt?" Noah inquired blankly, removing his hat and shades. His secretive outfit was appropriate for sleuthing as well as disguising.

A loud burst of thunder rolled outside in the churning black clouds, turning all heads towards the watery windows. Heather chuckled nervously, "Some weather, huh?"

Izzy whipped her plastic sunglasses from her face at Heather, striking below her collarbone. "Don't change the subject!" she exclaimed.

"Um, OW!" Heather glared, rubbing her sternum.

Alejandro looked curious. He turned to Heather and whispered, "_Mi amor_, what are you talking about?"

She whispered back, "You know, about Duncan. What happened..."

"We can hear you!" Izzy declared loudly. Noah shook his head.

Heather whipped her head towards them, "Okay, crazy girl! I'll tell you."

Noah and Izzy leaned in, momentarily forgetting the melting treat in front of them.

Heather's voice dropped below a whisper, "So, you know Courtney and Duncan used to date, right?"

Nod.

"And you also know Duncan recently went to juvi?"

Noah and Izzy exchanged a questioning look.

Heather sighed, "I'll take that as a 'no'. Well, he went there because of, well, drug possession. My dad actually brought him in."

Alejandro interjected, recalling a frightening memory, "Her father is a man of the law." The next reversionary line he recited like he'd had to memorize it, "I respect him and his daughter as the precious flower she is, and if I do not, I may find myself remembering that Heather's kind and benevolent father carries a gun and is not afraid to use it on 'lowlifes' like myself. _Ah dios_."

Heather smiled smugly and continued, "Anyways! So Duncan was abandoned by all his friends, and when he got out of juvi, Courtney dumped him."

"But, why?" Noah asked, his eyes expanding.

Heather shrugged. "I have no idea. But without her and without his friends, Duncan basically had no one; it was just sad. Like, what a loser. And he doesn't have the best home life either, if you know what I mean."

"Wow," Izzy stated glumly, "That sounds worse than the second time I got my foot stuck in the garbage disposal!"

Noah nodded, "I agree with that, and I was there. So Courtney's been acting insane because she abandoned Duncan when he needed her the most? I don't understand."

"I don't know why she did it, but she did. She's been going crazy ever since," Heather said simply, picking up her spoon to fish out a cherry from her small dish.

Alejandro rested his cheek in his palm, planting his elbow awkwardly on the linoleum table to avoid a drop of ice cream, and muttered, "I'll just be glad when the city makes a decision and this whole thing is over."

"But no matter what their decision is, someone's gonna get hurt," Heather said matter-of-fact-ly.

The four became embroiled in sad, individual thought, holding dull stares at the middle of their table, all energy drained, and any hope squashed, regardless of the restaurant's cheerful and juvenile atmosphere.

"Izzy, I love you," Noah said suddenly, not breaking his gaze from the ice cream drip he'd been watching.

"Izzy loves Noah!" she replied and placed a kiss on his cheek. Alejandro held Heather closer, and the four began listening to the scraping spoons, friendly laughter, and heavy rain once again. Outside the thunder roared aggressively; the wind beat against the flowering trees and the black rain tore tiny leaves from their stems. They were at the middle of a storm.

"HEY!" a voice barked. The four, and the other restaurant patrons, turned to see the ice cream man remove the 'scoop' part of the costume to reveal an older gentleman with rough, dark skin and a chef's hat perched on his imposingly high head. He pointed at Izzy. "You're the maggot who stepped on my mother's watermelon at the beach! I didn't recognize you with them sunglasses on."

Izzy grabbed Noah's hand. "Whoaa we gotta go!" she yelled.

They sprinted out the doors and into the puddles, squelching through the mud, the strange man chasing after them best he could in a giant cone costume, cursing loudly and waving his hands above his lofty head.

Alejandro and Heather looked at each other. "Should we help them?" Alejandro asked warily.

Heather waved her hand dismissingly, "No. We have bigger problems- like ending this feud."

Lighting cracked outside, flooding the restaurant with angry, yellow light. Alejandro leaned back. "And how do we do that, _chica_?"

Heather flashed him a mischievous grin, resolutely punching her fist into her palm. "If we figure this out, maybe we can fix things between Courtney and Duncan, and then Courtney will be off her guilt-induced war path! Gwen can have her cruddy park, and we can finally relax."

He looked confused. "Figure out what exactly?"

She placed her slender hand reassuringly on her boyfriend's shoulder. In an even tone, Heather told him, "We need to figure out why Courtney broke up with Duncan!"

...

The sweeping light from the almost full moon bathed Gwen's dark room with an eerie glow, casting black shadows around the corners of her furniture and cutting a black line against her form as she sat at her windowsill, her eyes fixed on the stretching street below. A single street lamp was lit at the end of the road by the stop sign. It was calming to watch it flicker in brightness.

The next day was her date with Trent, and instead of going to a movie Trent insisted he had a better idea, but it was a 'surprise'. Gwen hated surprises.

Duncan would have known that. He would've known she wanted nothing cloying, or overbearing, but something fun, and easy.

Her lips turned upward at the thought, and she allowed herself to indulge the useless thinking. She tucked her cold feet underneath her and kept her eyes locked on the moonlit street.

If she were, hypothetically, going on a date with Duncan instead of Trent, it would probably start out with him getting to her house late, which she would've been thankful for because Gwen was never ready. He'd envelop her in a cuddly hug, one where his fingers curled into her ribby sides, and with his face buried in the crook of her neck he might mumble something like, _Looking particularly pasty tonight- I didn't know someone as white as a snowman could look so hot._ She'd laugh and tell him how bad that was, and he'd probably smile and agree.

They would climb into his dad's old beater, and maybe turn the radio on to a lucky find. They'd both sing the lyrics, knowing that it didn't matter if they were on key or not because they'd be laughing no matter what.

He'd probably take her to some weird place he found once, a cove maybe, or some abandoned house. They'd make up stories about people who had died there, and how the ghosts lingered. She might lightly trail one of her fingers up his neck, to see if he'd jump, which of course he would. He'd probably retaliate, resulting in a major tickling match. This would lead to heavy breathing, and closeness. Maybe he'd kiss her, slowly, deeply, fingers entwined in hair, gently cooing sweet nothings and circling in the perfection of the moment.

She recalled his smoky, musky, toothpaste smell, and thought about the shape of his perfectly uneven lips, and sighed one of those long, loud, drawn out sighs of the exasperated, like she was breaking apart but couldn't see where. The thought of him did not repulse her, as she had once fooled herself into believing. She didn't even hate him; she was just mad. She was always mad.

Gwen sighed again and noticed the little red leather book on her nightstand. Slowly, she picked it up and brought it to the light, carefully flipping through its crinkly pages. Gwen treated it like its stringy binding could fall apart at any second. She skimmed a few of the poems, some of them were rather crude: _I saw a boat inside a moat and it did float I don't like oat-meal,_ but others were skillfully assembled- those were written solely by her dad. She smiled at a doodle of a dragon she'd scribbled in the corner of one of the pages.

She didn't used to be mad. Sure, Gwen had always been a little dark and more of a loner, but she became permanently angry the moment she realized her dad had left them. She remembered looking out the window to see her dad climb into his truck and shrink out of view, thinking nothing of it. Almost a full month passed when she accepted he wasn't coming back.

It was then she decided she didn't need anyone, she'd be a tough bitch, and she'd push anyone away that got too close to her newly formed shell, convincing herself the only remedy to her outlook would be the sight of her dad's red Chevy, rumbling back up their street, a box of donuts in his hand, and a goofy, apologetic smile on his stubbly face.

She looked out the window; the street was still empty and the light still flickering.

So, her dad left. People leave, and she personally pushed some of them to go. And suddenly, she was going on a date with a guy she couldn't escape, when the boy that haunted her dreams, and invaded her thoughts constantly, and whose controlling arms she longed for- the boy she pushed away, had probably forgotten all about her.

...

"Ugnff," Gwen moaned, shuffling into the dingy grey convenient store, the store's bell chiming. Not bothering to check a mirror before she zombied out her front door, Gwen's blue hair was mused and frizzed, and the droopy, purple bags under her eyes were cracks in her porcelain skin. She lazily scratched her back as she trundled over to the glass-doored fridges. Scanning the rows of beer and soda, she finally spotted her target.

_Ahhh, Red Bull._

Gwen was a coffee person, no doubt about it, but it was only around six o'clock and the local coffee spot didn't open until seven on Sundays. On this particularly dark summer morning, Gwen didn't feel like being patient for her caffeine boost.

She had trouble closing her eyes the night before, with her muddy thoughts about Duncan and her father floating around, but the added anxiety of her looming date with Trent kept her from getting even a wink of sleep. She had lain awake in her hot room, kicking away her covers, her wide eyes scanning her purple walls for something to distract herself. She tried reading, watching TV, and jumping jacks, but nothing was an adequate diversion. Disturbed thoughts kept popping up like demented fun house characters in her buzzing mind. _/You destroyed your chances with Duncan and now he hates you./ /Your father left you; you weren't worth the trouble./_

Gwen bit her lip as she gripped the fridge handle and, with much effort, opened the sticky door, reveling in the cool breeze, letting it wash over her wobbly body. She felt like TV static, flickering in and out of reality. She picked out the biggest blue and silver can that five dollars could afford and let the door swing shut.

The can was cold and wet in her fingers; she let it balance on her interlaced fingertips, focusing much too intently on keeping it in place. On her way to the register, she tripped a little on a tile. The cashier smirked, but she must have looked like she felt because one glare from the goth silenced the suddenly craven man.

After Gwen paid, she watched her own strong thumbnail, with the chipped black nail polish, slide under the metal tab and bend open the spluttering can. With her eyes down, she slouched off to the door. Sadly, someone else was entering at that exact moment, knocking her open drink back onto her black t-shirt. It dripped out a splattering pattern on the greyish white floor.

"Ugh!" she cried out in frustration, "Thanks a lot, you-" Gwen's snarl dropped off mid-threat, seeing who she was talking to.

Teal eyes. Tired, teal eyes.

"Duncan?" her scratchy voice was almost unheard.

"Nice to see you too," he grumbled, ignoring the energy drink collateral droplets on his dark grey hoodie front. His hood was up over his head, and his hands were stuffed into his pockets. The bags under his eyes mirrored her own, only they seemed more tragic.

Gwen looked down, ashamed. "Yeah..."

Seconds that felt like lifetimes in themselves ticked by, both teens avoiding each other's gaze but neither of them were willing to walk away. The cashier watched curiously, wondering if he would have to clean up the puddle of drink or if he could leave it for the day guy. He checked the time.

Duncan absentmindedly rubbed the back of his neck, when he noticed her drink choice. "I actually came in here to buy one of those," he mentioned offhandedly.

Gwen dared to look up at him. "What a coincidence," she squeaked, meeting his gaze. His bright eyes darkened quietly, like clouds passing over the sun.

A few more hour-like seconds went by.

Duncan pieced together the situation. "Well," he fumbled, "um, let me buy you another one!"

"No, no, that's okay, Duncan, really."

He flinched at the sound of his name. Gwen's mind was black and blue from all the mental guilt kicking she was doing.

"Okay," he said, tearing his eyes away, "I'll see you around then, Gwen." Slowly, he turned around and walked further into the store.

Without waiting for any more, Gwen ran through the door, making its friendly bells chime. Duncan soundlessly beat his sore, hooded head against the cold fridge, realizing that Gwen was the last person to touch that door. He could see faint fingerprints on the handle, and there was an empty space where a 16 oz Red Bull should've been.

The cashier looked at the distraught, yet dangerous looking teenager. He felt sympathy; he'd had his share of heartbreaks too at that age, but he wasn't some avuncular advice giver for weary travelers and this wasn't his problem. He went back to debating about the energy drink spillage. Shrugging, he propped up his feet and watched the teenager curse under his breath. Poor kid.

...

**MUCH LATER THAT NIGHT. (Specifically an hour and a half after Trent and Gwen's date)**

...

Duncan raced up the stairs in his house, the rapid patter of his rubber soles hitting the wooden steps echoing faintly in the empty house. Reaching his room, he began throwing papers around his desk.

"Where is it? Where is it?!" he muttered to himself, frustrated, scattering a few flyers to the ground. One of them caught his eye. Down on his knees, he pieced through the papers until he found what he was looking for. Silently, he congratulated himself. On a gum wrapper, six numbers were scrawled in his messy hand.

He grinned wickedly and went to his computer, when he noticed a discarded red notebook lying under a stack of tossed paper scraps. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed a pen and the flimsy book with his name printed neatly on the cover. He flipped it open and wrote far from legibly:

_Stupid journal that I hate because feelings are annoying and writing is pathetic:_

_First of all, I still hate you. Secondly, I'm getting Gwen back. _

_I have a plan. It's going to fuck with Courtney's plan, but I don't really care! Fuck her. Fuck Trent. Fuck The Drama Brothers. Fuck McLean Park. Fuck my dickweed druggie ex-friends! I don't care about any of it. After today? I am getting Gwen back._

_-Duncan_

...

**I sorta want to apologize. I feel like this story promised you amazing GWUNCAN but it turned out to be like disappointing gwuncan and friends. Like, it never even occurred to me that maybe you don't care about Alejandro or DJ's love life, or Harold's popcorn preferences. so I'm sorry that this story is weird and includes too many characters and has no decent fluff and I'm an asshole. Please forgive me.**

**I don't really do this whole sappy speech about how my reviewers and followers and readers make all my dreams come true, but I gotta do it cus it's so true. Everyone who reads, favorites, follows, and especially reviews, means the world, so thank you all for your continued support. I can't even describe how stupidly thankful I am without sounding like a fake attention begging bitch, so I'm done.**

**4 chapters to go, I'm so excited :3**

**I love you all forever! **

**PS I have been up for 38 hours straight. Red Bull. I feel like death**


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